--- 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: 2026-08-19T07:44:48.718Z 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 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=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama: Donald Trump’s ‘Degrading’ Comments Reveal He’s ‘Insecure’ > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. 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":"2026-08-19T07:44:48.718Z","description":"“He pumps himself up by putting other people down”","url":"https://time.com/4524296/barack-obama-trump-tapes-insecure/","keywords":["2016 Election","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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