Former US President Barack Obama was captured on video dancing maskless at his massive 60th birthday party. The video was posted by R&B and soul singer Erykah Badu, who performed at the event with her band. It shows the birthday boy showing off his moves on the stage and then hugging a woman.
The event has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers as well as ordinary people online, who accused the former president of failing to follow coronavirus safety rules at a time when coronavirus cases are mushrooming in the United States. According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the average number new of cases for the past seven days stands at around 100,000.
After the video and news of Obama’s huge party went viral, guests had to delete photos showing themselves at the grandiose event, the New York Post reported. Sputnik has been unable to verify this claim.
"Had to delete everything due to the rules. It was epic for sure. If any videos surface it’s going viral. He danced the whole time. Nobody ever seen Obama like this before", said TJ Chapman, as per the tabloid. Chapman is the manager of rapper Trap Beckham, who performed at the event.
Erykah Badu's video showing the former president dancing without a mask on also disappeared from her Instagram account.
Both TJ Chapman and Trap Beckham posted Instagram stories and photos, which showed the décor and food at the birthday party, as well as themselves smoking marijuana, which is legal in Massachusetts, where the event was held.
As mentioned earlier, the Obamas reportedly intended to scale back the event, with only family and close friends being invited, but according to local media, hundreds of guests attended the event, among them actors, directors, musicians, TV hosts, and politicians.
One social media user joked that the pandemic seems to be over and that life can get back to normal after seeing the former president and his guests partying without wearing masks.
Others were less restrained and branded the politician a hypocrite.
Still others lamented the double standards in US society.
One user labelled the party a super spreader event.