Former President Barack Obama has opened up about some of the “somewhat inappropriate” attention he received from women during his time in office, as well as what kept him on a “straight and narrow path” throughout.
In an appearance with The Pivot Podcast on Tuesday, Obama, 63, recognized his celebrity but stressed that he “was not tripping” from his fans, much to the delight of the podcast’s co-hosts, former NFL players Channing Crowder, Ryan Clark, and Fred Taylor.
“When I got drafted in the NFL, I got a little cuter,” Crowder, a former Miami Dolphins linebacker, remarked, kicking off the discussion with his personal experience.
“Do women be hollering at you and stuff, like on the fact that, because you’re a good-looking dude, but now you’re ‘President Good Looking Dude,’” he asked to laughter.
“First of all, I don’t know if Michelle’s going to be watching this,” Obama joked about his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama. He then acknowledged his experiences, which he figured hit him differently because of his age at the time.
“The truth is, you guys as NFL players and athletes generally…y’all get famous young, at a time when the attention that you’re talking about maybe flattering, fun, what have you,” he said.
“By the time people really knew who I was, I was 43 years old. I was married, had two kids, had gone grocery shopping, had washed my car. I was a regular guy in that sense.”
Barack married Michelle in 1992, and their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, were 10 and 7 when they moved into the White House following his sweeping 2008 victory. He was 47 at the time, making him one of the nation’s youngest presidents as well as the first Black president.
“That kind of attention, by the time I got it, I was not tripping on it. There are times where women have acted in somewhat inappropriate ways. There are pictures on the internet of women grabbing my butt, and I was president at the time,” he said.
