Trump Has Michael Scott Moment As Obama Gag Falls Flat: ‘Nobody Got That One’

Donald Trump’s jokes about his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, received a less than enthusiastic response from the audience at the Al Smith charity dinner in New York on Thursday.

Trump cracked gags about Obama at the event, which itself has been criticized for “normalizing” the divisive and fearmongering former president and current Republican nominee.

But the attempted zingers fell largely flat, reminiscent of awkward Michael Scott moments in “The Office.”

At one point, Trump himself cringingly admitted: “Nobody got that one.”

pic.twitter.com/Ey9TNNBNR5

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 18, 2024

","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Kamala HQ","author_url":"https://twitter.com/KamalaHQ","cache_age":86400,"description":"Trump complains about the audience not laughing at his attempts at jokes: “Does anybody understand that? Do you understand that? Nobody got that one” pic.twitter.com/Ey9TNNBNR5— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 18, 2024nnn","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Kamala HQ on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/KamalaHQ/status/1847095249694241120","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"67122152e4b08d7bcf68e0b1","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-obama-gag-falls-flat_n_67122152e4b08d7bcf68e0b1","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,barack-obama,2024-elections,al-smith-charity-dinner,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"us-news,media","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"8b034f64-513c-4987-b16f-42d6008f7feb","clickToPlayPlayer":"5a777b9b-81fe-41a6-8302-59e9953ee8a2","videoPagePlayer":"19654b65-409c-4b38-90db-80cbdea02cf4"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/45551c09-4ecf-42b0-b7ec-1db580ba010d/1_th.jpg?crop=629:354,smart&width=629&height=354&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":2},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"67122152e4b08d7bcf68e0b1","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"Barack Obama ","slug":"barack-obama","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/barack-obama","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/barack-obama","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/barack-obama"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Barack Obama","slug":"barack-obama","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/barack-obama"},{"name":"2024 elections","slug":"2024-elections","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/2024-elections","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/2024-elections","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/2024-elections"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"2024 Elections","slug":"2024-elections","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/news/topic/2024-elections"},{"name":"Al Smith charity dinner","slug":"al-smith-charity-dinner","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/al-smith-charity-dinner","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/al-smith-charity-dinner","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/al-smith-charity-dinner"},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/al-smith-charity-dinner"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

rnrn","

rnrn","

rnrn","

rnrn"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

Trump complains about the audience not laughing at his attempts at jokes: “Does anybody understand that? Do you understand that? Nobody got that one” pic.twitter.com/Ey9TNNBNR5

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 18, 2024

Trump began by claiming his successor, President Joe Biden, was unhappy with him having the stage at the dinner to himself after Democratic nominee Kamala Harris opted to stay away, remain on the campaign trail and send a video message instead.

Trump said: “So he [Biden] called, looked at me and said, ‘Don’t.’”

Few laughs came.

“Does anybody understand that?” asked Trump. “Yes, that was. I thought it was actually very good until just now.” The admission drew more laughs than the actual line.

Trump went on: “It was announced this morning that at a funeral yesterday in a rare moment of clarity, Joe told Barack Hussein Obama that…”

Trump’s use of Obama’s full name ― a trolling tactic that’s previously been interpreted as a dog whistle about Trump’s birther conspiracy theory about his predecessor ― drew what appeared to be a single laugh from the audience.

“Heh. Only a few people got that. Or, as Rush Limbaugh used to say, Barack Husseeeiiin Obama. Remember? He was a piece of work. We miss him,” Trump said of the late conspiracy theory-peddling right-wing radio host.

Trump then said: “But as he told Barack Hussein Obama, quote, ‘She’s not as strong as me. She’s not as strong, do you understand that?’ And Obama agreed, saying, ‘That’s true.’ Other than that, I think the Democrats are getting along quite well, right?”

Mostly silence followed.

“Nobody got that one,” admitted Trump.

Watch from the 11-minute mark here: