An interview with former President Barack Obama and progressive podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen has sparked a wave of online criticism, not because of what the former president said, but because of what the interviewer failed to ask.
During a rapid-fire “lightning round” segment of the 47-minute episode released Saturday, Cohen asked Obama point-blank if aliens are real.
Obama’s response was an immediate “yes,” marking what many observers noted as a historic moment for a former commander-in-chief.
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Obama told Cohen that they are real, though he clarified he had not personally seen them and denied they were being held in Area 51. He joked that if they were being kept in an underground facility, it would have to be part of an “enormous conspiracy” hidden even from the president.
Despite the gravity of a former world leader confirming the existence of extraterrestrials, Cohen did not pause to probe the admission. Instead, he immediately pivoted to a question about what Obama first wanted to know when he took office, and then moved on to a lengthy discussion about Pope Leo XIV.
The exchange, which lasted less than 30 seconds out of the nearly hour-long sit-down, quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons. Critics and fellow journalists took to social media to call out the missed opportunity.
Podcaster Jay Anderson described the moment as one of the “most epic interview fumbles of all time,” pointing out that getting a president to say “aliens are real” in plain English usually warrants more than zero follow-up questions. His critique garnered significantly more engagement than Cohen’s original post of the clip.
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Other commentators, including British political analyst Calvin Robinson and journalist Sonny Bunch, weighed in on the host’s decision to stick to his script.
Robinson called the interview a “master class” in why not everyone is suited for journalism, arguing that such a significant statement required immediate, relevant questioning. Bunch noted that Obama’s phrasing was a clever bit of “politico-legal speak,” where he admitted the existence of aliens while simultaneously distancing himself from the classic conspiracy theories regarding Area 51.
The podcast episode’s title didn’t even mention the alien revelation, focusing instead on topics like the 2028 election and pop culture.
This lack of emphasis, combined with the host’s quick transition to unrelated topics, has left many audience members wondering why the most existential admission of the interview was treated as a throwaway line.
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