Trump Mocks Obama’s Harvard Law Degree at Rally, Prompting Former President’s Measured Rebuke in Viral Video

By Peter Baker The New York Times November 25, 2025

ATLANTA — President Trump reignited one of his longest-running personal feuds on Saturday night by mocking Barack Obama’s Harvard Law degree as “overrated nonsense” during a rally here, only to face a swift and devastating counterstrike from the former president: a 42-second Instagram video of Mr. Obama staring impassively into the camera before walking away, a silent rebuke that has stunned the press corps, gone viral with over 85 million views and left the White House scrambling to contain the fallout.

The exchange unfolded at State Farm Arena before a crowd of 15,000, where Mr. Trump was stumping for Republican Senate candidates in a state he flipped by just 1.2 percent in 2024. Veering off script after a supporter shouted about Mr. Obama’s recent criticisms of his administration, the president sneered: “Barack Obama — Mr. Harvard Law, big deal! Overrated degree from an overrated school. He couldn’t even pass the bar exam without affirmative action. Nasty guy, his whole family.” The arena erupted in chants of “Lock him up!” — a familiar refrain from 2016 — as Mr. Trump grinned and added, “We don’t need Ivy League lectures from failed presidents anymore. Real Americans know better.”

The remarks, part of a pattern dating to Mr. Trump’s 2011 birther attacks on Mr. Obama, echoed his recent jabs at Harvard graduates as “low-IQ elites” during a November 18 Cabinet meeting. But they hit a raw nerve, coming just weeks after Michelle Obama’s blistering Kalamazoo speech labeling Mr. Trump a “threat to decency” and amid the administration’s Epstein files controversy, where Mr. Obama has called for full transparency.

By Sunday morning, Mr. Obama had responded without a word. Posted at 8:17 a.m. to his verified Instagram and X accounts from what appeared to be his Chicago home office, the video shows the 64-year-old former president in a simple gray sweater, gazing directly into the lens for 42 seconds. His expression shifts subtly from calm neutrality to a faint, knowing arch of the eyebrow — a masterclass in restrained disdain — before he stands, adjusts his cuff and walks off camera. No caption, no music, no text. The clip ends on an empty leather chair, the faint sound of a door closing echoing in the silence.

Within hours, #TheObamaStare had surged to the top global trend, surpassing 14 million posts. TikTok users slowed it to quarter-speed with Hans Zimmer’s “Time” score, turning the pause into a cinematic mic drop; late-night host Jimmy Kimmel replayed it on loop during his monologue, quipping: “That’s it. Forty-two seconds of pure, unadulterated shade. Trump spent 90 seconds yelling at a crowd; Obama said nothing and won the internet.” The video’s virality — 85 million views by Monday evening — has frozen national discourse, with commentators from CNN to Fox News dissecting the former president’s unflinching gaze as a “moral and political masterstroke.”

The White House reaction was one of barely contained fury. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt, during Sunday’s briefing, dismissed the video as “creepy deep-state theater from a bitter loser,” insisting Mr. Trump’s rally comments were “lighthearted truth-telling.” But behind closed doors, aides described a president apoplectic. Three people familiar with the discussions said Mr. Trump spent Sunday morning in the Oval Office, dictating a series of deleted Truth Social drafts before settling on a 3:47 a.m. post: “Sleepy Barack’s creepy stare video is the act of a guilty man! His overrated Harvard degree didn’t help him — total failure! We are WINNING BIGLY! #FakeNews #MAGA.” The post, viewed 11 million times, tagged Mr. Obama and accused him of “birtherism revenge.”

Mr. Obama’s silence, a hallmark of his post-presidency style, amplified the rebuke’s power. In a 2018 interview with David Axelrod for his podcast, Mr. Obama reflected on enduring Mr. Trump’s attacks: “You don’t stoop to that level. You rise above it.” The stare — captured in what appears to be a single take — embodies that ethos, a wordless reminder of the dignity that defined his tenure and contrasted sharply with Mr. Trump’s bombast. David Plouffe, Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, called it “the ultimate mic drop” in a CNN appearance: “No words needed when your record speaks volumes. Trump’s rant was noise; this was signal.”

The episode has reopened a grudge match that has defined American politics for nearly two decades. Mr. Trump’s birther conspiracy in 2011 — questioning Mr. Obama’s birthplace and Harvard credentials — was dismantled at that year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where the former president and Seth Meyers roasted him mercilessly, a humiliation Mr. Trump has cited as the spark for his 2016 run. Michelle Obama’s convention speeches in 2016 and 2024, warning that Mr. Trump “cannot fathom” public service, have remained particular flashpoints. Mr. Trump’s Atlanta taunt, days after her Kalamazoo address labeling him a “threat to decency,” closed a loop of personal vitriol that Democrats say reveals his insecurities.

Public outrage has been swift and bipartisan. Women’s groups like Emily’s List condemned Mr. Trump’s “misogynistic pattern,” citing his history of attacks on Ms. Obama from 2016 birtherism to 2024 rally jabs. A Quinnipiac poll released Monday showed Mr. Trump’s favorability among women at 32 percent — a second-term low — with independents citing “personal attacks” as a top concern amid the shutdown and Epstein files. Even some Republicans distanced themselves: Senator Susan Collins of Maine tweeted: “Personal attacks on former first ladies diminish us all — let’s elevate the discourse.” House Speaker Mike Johnson, on Fox News, called Mr. Obama’s video “class warfare” but urged focus on the economy.

Democrats, sensing momentum, amplified the clip in ads targeting swing districts. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries quipped on MSNBC: “Trump calls Michelle ‘nasty’? That’s projection from a man whose idea of class is a Sharpie redraw. Barack’s stare? Masterful — calm, cool, and cutting.” Late-night host Stephen Colbert staged a mock “Stare-Off” skit, pitting Mr. Obama against Mr. Trump’s scowl.

For Ms. Obama, who has channeled her influence into education and health initiatives since 2017, the episode is a reluctant return to the fray. “Michelle’s above this,” a close friend said anonymously. “But when Trump goes low, Barack reminds us why we go high — and why it wins.” In Washington’s echo chamber, where outrage is oxygen, Mr. Obama’s calm may be the most devastating clapback of all.