Toward the end of Brian Tyler Cohen’s interview with Barack Obama, the podcast host asked the former president a series of quick, lighthearted questions, including one about the possible existence of extraterrestrial life.
“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” the Democrat replied, “and they’re not being kept at, what is it, Area 51. There’s no underground facility — unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
The answer generated some overwrought headlines about Obama confirming the existence of aliens, so he issued a clarification the day after Cohen’s interview appeared online. “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” the former president said. “But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
The follow-up statement almost certainly should have brought the story, such as it was, to a rapid end. Obama’s Republican successor, however, didn’t see it quite that way.
During a five-minute Q-and-A with reporters on Air Force One, Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Donald Trump, “Barack Obama said that aliens are real. Have you seen any evidence of nonhuman visitors to Earth?”
The incumbent president replied, in reference to Obama, “Well, he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that.”
Doocy quickly followed up by asking whether Trump was confirming that aliens are real. “I don’t know if they’re real or not,” Trump replied. “I can tell you he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information.”
So, a few things.
First, Trump’s yearslong fixation on Obama continues to be rather creepy. The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd recently accused the Republican of having “Obama Derangement Syndrome,” and there’s ample evidence to bolster the point. Second, the idea that Obama’s innocuous comments about the likelihood of intelligent life somewhere in the universe reflected “classified information” is so ridiculous that it’s kind of hilarious that Trump even floated the baseless criticisms. Third, and perhaps most important, Trump probably ought to be more careful about accusations like these, given his track record of blurting out sensitive national security secrets and storing classified files in the bathroom of his glorified country club. Indeed, if the incumbent president is looking for someone who’s actually mishandled classified information, he ought to look in a mirror. Nevertheless, a few hours after targeting Obama with nonsense, Trump published a related item to his social media platform, announcing his intention to direct federal agencies “to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.” There have already been a series of related disclosures in recent years, culminating in a closely watched congressional hearing in 2022. Whether the current administration intends to go further remains to be seen. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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