--- title: Barack Obama: Donald Trump’s Remarks ‘Degrading, Demeaning' description: Barack Obama said leaked tapes reveal Donald Trump is insecure and said his remarks show character that does not belong in the White House canonical: https://time.com/4524296/barack-obama-trump-tapes-insecure/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-09T21:44:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:15:33.991Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama: Donald Trump’s ‘Degrading’ Comments Reveal He’s ‘Insecure’ og:description: “He pumps himself up by putting other people down” og:url: https://time.com/4524296/barack-obama-trump-tapes-insecure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd75253e38fd9097/6988a9432dce0176169eaf46/obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Obama delivers remarks at a senatorial campaign fundraiser event for Duckworth in Chicago og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama: Donald Trump’s ‘Degrading’ Comments Reveal He’s ‘Insecure’ twitter:description: “He pumps himself up by putting other people down” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd75253e38fd9097/6988a9432dce0176169eaf46/obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama: Donald Trump’s ‘Degrading’ Comments Reveal He’s ‘Insecure’ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Oct 9, 2016 9:44 PM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a senatorial campaign fundraiser event in Chicago, on Oct. 9, 2016. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a senatorial campaign fundraiser event in Chicago, on Oct. 9, 2016.Jonathan Ernst—Reuters by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Oct 9, 2016 9:44 PM UTC President Barack Obama on Sunday addressed for the first time a [leaked video tape](http://time.com/4523526/donald-trump-women-leaked-audio/?iid=sr-link1) from 2005 in which Donald Trump made lewd comments about women and said he can grope them because he is “a star.” Obama called Trump insecure and said his remarks show character that does not belong in the White House. In the [tape](http://time.com/4523526/donald-trump-women-leaked-audio/?iid=sr-link1), Trump brags to Billy Bush, then-host of _Access Hollywood_, that he can do whatever he wants to women. “Grab them by the p—y,” Trump says. “You can do anything.” The president, speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Chicago, said the comments were disturbing. “One of the most disturbing things about this election is just the unbelievable rhetoric,” he said, adding, “I don’t need to repeat it, there are children in the room.” Obama said Trump’s remarks were “demeaning to women, degrading women, but also minorities, immigrants, people of other faiths, mocking the disabled, insulting our troops, insulting our veterans.” “It tells you that he’s insecure,” Obama added. “He pumps himself up by [putting other people down](http://time.com/4523851/donald-trump-apology-access-hollywood/?xid=homepage). Not a character trait that I would advise for somebody in the Oval Office.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4524296/barack-obama-trump-tapes-insecure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4524296/barack-obama-trump-tapes-insecure/"},"headline":"President Obama: Donald Trump’s ‘Degrading’ Comments Reveal He’s ‘Insecure’","datePublished":"2016-10-09T21:44:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:15:33.991Z","description":"“He pumps himself up by putting other people down”","url":"https://time.com/4524296/barack-obama-trump-tapes-insecure/","keywords":["2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd75253e38fd9097/6988a9432dce0176169eaf46/obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd75253e38fd9097/6988a9432dce0176169eaf46/obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obama delivers remarks at a senatorial campaign fundraiser event for Duckworth in Chicago","caption":"U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a senatorial campaign fundraiser event for U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. October 9, 2016. 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