Former President Barack Obama told a crowd at a rally in California that he was once kicked out of Disneyland for smoking.
In a story that struck a lighter note from some of his speech, during which he took a dig at President Donald Trump by suggesting that the U.S. had been in a "downward spiral" of division for the last two years.
Regaling attendees with a story from his youth, the former leader said he and his friends had been in California to see Kool and the Gang before they were escorted from the park.
Alert: Obama may be reaching IDGAF phase. https://t.co/fylC55jJRr
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) September 8, 2018
"So we came down, me and a bunch of friends. After the concert, because we were teenagers you could still sort of hang out in the park, and we got in the gondolas," Obama said.
"And I'm ashamed to say this, so close your ears, young people. A few of us were... smoking," Obama continued, then clarifying: "No, no, these were cigarettes, people," as the crowd began to cheer, The Hill reported.
"Terrible thing … but at the time I'm a teenager, I'm rebellious," Obama continued.
"As we're coming in, there are these two very large Disneyland police officers and they say, 'Sir, can you come with us?' and they escorted us out of Disneyland … This is a true story everybody. I was booted from the Magic Kingdom," he said.
The story appeared to amuse Disney CEO Bob Iger, who took to twitter following the speech to assure Obama that he was welcome back at the park anytime – provided he didn't break any more rules.
"@BarackObama just opened his speech in Anaheim with a story from his college years about getting kicked out of Disneyland for smoking cigarettes on a ride. "This is a true story everybody, I was booted from the Magic Kingdom!" He can always come back, as long as he doesn't smoke!" Iger tweeted.
Obama's speech didn't appear as impressive to Trump fans, with high profile supporters including Jeanine Pirro slamming the former president for being critical of Trump and describing his speech as "a full-throttle savage attack on the president."
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