President Donald Trump recently revealed that the “only thing” he liked about former President Barack Obama is the way he “bob down the stairs.”
Trump and Obama have always had polar opposite personalities. This has been marked by stark differences in perspectives, both as rivals and as individuals.
The President has publicly criticized Obama’s tenure several times since rising to power in 2016. However, he recently made an unusual comment about Barack Obama, revealing the “only thing” he admired about him.
At a rally in Kentucky on March 11, the 79-year-old president briefly addressed how other countries perceive the United States. This remark comes as the US remains under global scrutiny after the US-Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28.
Donald Trump claimed that presidents should avoid looking physically weak and frail even when boarding Air Force One, and hailed Barack Obama for confidently climbing the steps.
“The only thing I admired about Barack Hussein Obama, which was nothing actually. But the only thing is the way he was bob down the stairs,” he told the crowd.
“You talk about unpresidential. He’s bobbin’… and I couldn’t believe that he made it without at least a noticeable major fall,” he added.
Trump: “The only thing I admired about Barack Hussein Obama, which was nothing actually. But the only thing is the way he was bob down the stairs. You talk about unpresidential. He’s bob– and I couldn’t believe that he made it without at least a noticeable major fall.” pic.twitter.com/LF0k5KlcOd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 11, 2026
Donald Trump then said he prefers to move slowly and carefully when using the stairs, noting they can become slippery in wet conditions.
“You can slip,” he said. “I take it very slowly. I hold onto the railing because nobody cares if you set a speed record.”
Later in the speech, Trump also took a jab at another rival, who was none other than Joe Biden. “But Biden was the opposite; he couldn’t even walk up the stairs. He fell three times,” the 79-year-old said as he compared Biden to himself and Barack Obama.
While talking about Biden, Donald Trump used clips of his predecessor stumbling on the stairs of Air Force One, saying they showed what he described as an “incompetent” president.
Last year, Trump was seen stumbling through the stairs of Air Force One. A clip went viral on June 8 on X.
The Republican candidate was heading to the aircraft to fly to Camp David, where he was set to meet with military officials amid the ICE protests.
He slipped while climbing up and quickly got up after tripping, as he continued without looking back. The incident went viral as several social media users on X mocked him online.
“Hypocrisy at its finest,” another user commented. Another said, “It’s funny how the words he uses to attack others always seem to come back around on him,” one user wrote about Trump.
According to Tyla, Trump has been rumoured to have Bathophobia, which is a lesser-known phobia of depth, tunnels, stairs, deep valleys, and caves. The word is of Greek origin. where bathos means depth and phobos means fear.
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One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, “Look through Trump’s history—he’s afraid of stairs. This is his nightmare caught on tape.” Another added, “Trump looks more afraid of the stairs than he was of the guy who shot at his rally.”
While people with bathophobia suffer from serious anxiety attacks, there is no proof that Donald Trump truly has it.
