There was a moment, during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2011, that the camera captured a scene which the world would repeatedly hear about years later over the course of Donald Trump’s two presidential terms.
Trump – at that time musing publicly about running for the Republican party nomination ahead of the 2012 election – was not known for having a sense of humour about himself, and then-President Barack Obama was going to take advantage of it.
Referring to Trump’s long quest to have Obama release his birth certificate to prove he was born in the US and not Kenya, as Trump claimed, Obama told the gathered Washington power players: “No-one is happier, no-one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald.
“That’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter – like did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are (dead rap stars) Biggie and Tupac?”
As the room laughed, the camera cut to Trump, who sat there in the crowd, completely stony-faced. But Obama wasn’t done.
