Barack Obama says aliens are real during podcast

Published February 15th, 2026 - 06:10 GMT
Obama
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) Get Out the Vote Rally at Essex County College Gymnasium on November 01, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP) / Entering Area 51 Sign On A Fence At The Military Base In The Nevada Desert At Sunset (Shutterstock)

ALBAWABA - Former US President Barack Obama recently went viral on social media after claiming that aliens are real during an interview with YouTuber and podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, which also discussed other topics such as Trump's AI ape video and the Super Bowl. 

Cohen asked Obama if aliens are real, to which he replied, "They’re real, but I haven’t seen them. They’re not being kept at Area 51. There’s no underground facility... unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States."

The YouTuber then asked Obama, "What was the first question you wanted answered when you became president?" 

The former US President jokingly said, "Where are the aliens?" 

Barack Obama says aliens are real during podcast

During the podcast, the former US President also addressed the offensive AI video shared by US President Donald Trump that depicted several democrat leaders as animals, including Obama and his wife Michelle as apes.

Obama told Cohen, "You know, it is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction. But, you know, as I’m traveling around the country, as you’re traveling around the country, you meet people. They still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness."

He added, "And there’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television. And what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum. And a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? So that’s been lost."

According to the BBC, when reporters asked Trump about the controversial AI video, the US President said that he "didn't make a mistake" and that he didn't see the part that featured the Obamas as apes.

Cohen and Obama also spoke about US "discourse" and how it "has devolved to a level of cruelty that we haven't seen before." They also discussed the ongoing tensions regarding the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the ongoing protests against the federal agency.