Barack Obama attended Donald Trump's inauguration solo on Monday because his wife wanted to make a statement by not appearing, but Obama made his own statement about the event that he probably didn't expect us to find out about.
According to a deaf lip reader, at one point during the inauguration, Obama asked George W. Bush how they could “stop what’s happening” during President Trump’s inauguration.
Jackie Gonzalez, a deaf woman who shares her interpretations of celebrities’ and politicians’ private conversations on social media, released a now-viral video revealing what she interpreted that the two former presidents were discussing during a private moment at Trump’s inauguration.
Footage of Obama and Bush sharing a laugh during Trump’s swearing-in ceremony took off online Monday, with many Internet sleuths wondering what the 43rd and 44th presidents were joking about.
According to Gonzalez, Obama greets Bush and tells him, “Good to see you,” as the crowd bursts into a boisterous bout of applause for him.
Gonzalez includes a disclaimer on her pages stating that lip reading is “not a reliable form of communication” and that “all statements are alleged.”
Despite this, her followers found the commentary amusing, with the video receiving 70,000 likes and 2,000 comments.
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This is the second time a lip-reader has interpreted a conversation involving Barack Obama this month. Another lip reader interpreted the conversation between Obama and Trump at Jimmy Carter’s funeral. The video of their exchange quickly went viral, sparking widespread speculation about what they said. However, according to professional lip reader Jeremy Freeman, the smiles and laughter during their conversation concealed a more serious discussion.
At one point, Trump leaned toward Obama and said, “I’ve pulled out of that. It’s the conditions. Can you imagine that?”
Obama laughed as Trump added, “and after, I will,” before the pooled TV camera feed cut away from the men, who were bracketed by former first lady Laura Bush and Trump’s wife Melania.
“Call me at the foy after, yep,” Trump replied to Obama during their exchange, possibly referring to the National Cathedral’s foyer.
Obama then said, “can you just … it should be good.”
“I can’t talk, we have to find a quiet place sometime. This is a matter of importance and we need to do this outside so that we can deal with it, certainly, today,” Trump said, as Obama nodded.
Freeman, a London-based forensic lip reader born deaf, has served as a certified expert witness for 16 years, assisting litigants, police, and journalists through University College London.
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