Fact Check: Did Obama say '80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on'?

WASHINGTON, DC: A video of former President Barack Obama has recently surfaced online, where he is heard saying that "80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on."

The clip went viral across different social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and YouTube in late September 2025. But did Obama really say it? Let us find out below.

Claim: Obama said '80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on'

X account @Acyn posted the clip on September 25, 2025, of Barack Obama speaking at an event with the caption, "OBAMA: It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it."

The clip appears to be from an event, 'An Evening With President Obama', that took place at the O2 Arena in London on September 24, 2025.

The video consisted of a conversation between Obama and British historian David Olusoga.

Obama was heard saying, "It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on, who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it."

A Threads user shared the same clip and wrote, "The root of a lot of our current problems are billionaires and politicians who won at life but then refused to sail off into the sunset."

Fact Check: Viral clip doesn't include the full context of what Obama was saying

The viral clip on social media did not include the full context of the quote, and no official recordings or transcripts of the event were available online at the time of writing this article.

Since there was no way to independently verify the authenticity of the quote, the claim has been left unrated, fact-checking outlet Snopes reported.

Meanwhile, the clip of Obama saying the alleged quote did not show any obvious signs of alteration or any evidence of being generated by artificial intelligence.

Moreover, the event did take place, as multiple news outlets have covered it, and Obama also posted a clip from the event on his X account. It matched visually with the short video circulating across social media.

Interestingly, Obama made a similar statement in December 2019 at an event in Singapore.

He said, "If you look at the world and look at the problems, it's usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way."

A similar rumor about Trump-Obama surfaced recently

This is probably not the first time a rumor about the former president has surfaced online.

In August 2025, a video circulated online claiming President Donald Trump told Barack Obama, "Sit down, boy," during a nationally televised forum in Phoenix.

The description of the video, which was later deleted, alleged that the insult stunned the audience and sparked a national debate, with Obama delivering a sharp and memorable comeback.

The YouTube video's description framed the alleged conversation, "During a nationally televised forum in Phoenix, the air changed with one shocking remark: President Trump looked across the stage at Barack Obama and said, ‘Sit down, boy.’ The audience gasped, the cameras caught every second, and millions at home couldn't believe what they were hearing."

"But it wasn't the insult that people remembered most—it was Obama's reply. Calm, sharp, and unforgettable, his words echoed far beyond the stage. Overnight, the moment spread across classrooms, churches, workplaces, and living rooms, sparking debates about leadership, respect, and the weight of words," it added.

However, the claims were debunked as there is no record of Trump ever making this remark to Obama in Phoenix or anywhere else.