Add a channel
All countries
All countriesUnited StatesUnited KingdomCanadaAustraliaNew ZealandIreland
More

Sections

LatestNewsWorld newsComedyMusicSportsGamingFilm & TVTechFamilyFoodCarsLifestyleMoneyScienceOutdoorsDIY & artPodcasts

More on Trari

Daily chartWeekly chartMonthly chartInstagramCreatorsCategoriesAdd a channelArchiveAbout
More

Sections

LatestNewsWorld newsComedyMusicSportsGamingFilm & TVTechFamilyFoodCarsLifestyleMoneyScienceOutdoorsDIY & artPodcasts

More on Trari

Daily chartWeekly chartMonthly chartInstagramCreatorsCategoriesAdd a channelArchiveAbout
Trari › USA TODAY
News 105K views since yesterday

"I starred in it": Obama ties attacks on El-Sayed's name to his own birther past

USA TODAY's Detroit rally clip centers on the part of the speech about identity, with a birth-certificate joke and a defense of the Michigan Senate candidate's disagreements with him.

Channel: USA TODAY Story of Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of USA TODAY's most watched videos since yesterday, with 105,267 views.

Barack Obama reacts to Republican attacks on Abdul El-Sayed's name: 'This stuff didn't work on me'Barack Obama reacts to Republican attacks on Abdul El-Sayed's name: 'This stuff didn't work on me'

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

  1. 0:39Obama mocks Republicans who, he says, now act as if they do not know Donald Trump.
  2. 1:21He calls El-Sayed's goals on health care, affordable housing and living wages common sense, not radical.
  3. 3:02On El-Sayed's disagreements with him, Obama notes that Michelle Obama disagrees with him too.
  4. 4:41He links attacks on El-Sayed's name and background to those once used against him.
  5. 5:27The birth-certificate joke, followed by: "This stuff didn't work on me."
  6. 6:40He criticizes Mike Rogers on foreign policy and tariffs, then pictures El-Sayed serving with Slotkin.

Barack Obama has heard this kind of attack before, and in Detroit he said so directly. Turning to Republican criticism of Abdul El-Sayed's name and background, the former president told the rally crowd: "We have seen this movie before. I starred in it."

He then took on the conspiracy theory that once followed him. "I've got a long-form birth certificate to prove it," Obama said, before delivering the line that gives USA TODAY's video its title: "This stuff didn't work on me, not in Michigan, it's not going to work on Abdul." The video's description recalls that Donald Trump, then a New York real estate developer, promoted claims that Obama's birth certificate was fake. The description calls those claims untrue and notes that they did not stop Obama's re-election.

Earlier coverage of Obama's Detroit and Cleveland appearances focused on his jokes about White House decor. USA TODAY's clip, which drew more than 100,000 views since yesterday, instead keeps the identity segment and the argument around it. Obama called El-Sayed's goals on health care, housing and wages common sense rather than radical. He also addressed criticism that the candidate has disagreed with policies from the Obama administration. "You know who else doesn't agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama," he said, adding that disagreeing on means is different from disagreeing on goals.

Obama described El-Sayed as a Michigan native, an athlete and a physician. He then criticized Republican opponent Mike Rogers over foreign policy and tariffs, arguing that they have cost local jobs and raised prices. Rogers lost Michigan's 2024 Senate race narrowly to Elissa Slotkin. Obama closed by picturing El-Sayed serving alongside her.

Comments arrived about four times faster than on a typical first day for the channel's regular videos.

Published on Trari

Where next?

More from USA TODAYVideo taking off 23x its usual first dayPhiladelphia boycott ride stalls as counter-protesters block cyclistsUSA TODAY's street report shows police separating opposing demonstrators during a protest targeting Jewish-owned businesses over support for Israel.Channel: USA TODAY · Story of November 9, 2026 Also in News networks and broadcastersVideo taking off 49x its usual first dayWomen in ITV's Power and Silence say David Walliams pursued them as teenagersTwo of the women were 15 when they met him. Walliams denies all wrongdoing, saying in a statement: "I am not a sexual predator".Channel: ITV News · Story of November 11, 2026 A different discovery todayA video worth knowingKurzgesagt asks when, exactly, a person diesIts animated explainer follows the body after the heartbeat stops, from failing neurons to immune cells still fighting near the ten-minute mark.Channel: Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell · Story of November 11, 2026

Or follow us on Telegram

The facts
Channel
USA TODAY
Subscribers
7,590,000
Channel views, last 7 days
10,280,225
Channel views, pace per day
1,395,855 (on a normal day: 1,567,765)
Video published
October 25, 2026
Video views so far
111,272 (less than a day online)
Video views, pace per day
105,241

The numbers

This was USA TODAY's most watched new video since yesterday, ahead of its clip of Trump's remarks on gas prices.

subscribers
7,590,000
no significant change in the last 7 days
total views
5,304,065,802
views per day
1,395,855
typical day: 1,567,765
the video
views
111,272
likes
1,804
comments
384
days online
1
subscribers: this channel and similar channels
USA TODAY
7,590,000
CBS News
7,110,000
60 Minutes Australia
6,750,000
The Wall Street Journal
6,720,000
The Sun
6,550,000
DW News
6,480,000
As of October 26, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube
Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.
Developed with YouTube

💡 Test your knowledge

In which year did the White House release Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate?