The former presidents shared a playful moment at the Capitol Rotunda during the inauguration
Former President Barack Obama playfully kept a watchful eye on fellow former President George W. Bush during President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
After leaving the Capitol Rotunda on Monday, Jan. 20, Obama, 63, was asked if Bush, 78, behaved as Trump, 78, was sworn into office.
“Just barely,” the former president jokingly told Washington Post reporter Emily Davies in a clip she shared on X.
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The question referenced another video that Davies published earlier in the day with a solo Obama lining up for the inauguration behind Bush and his wife Laura Bush, also 78.
As the former presidents and the former first lady prepared to enter the event, a staffer asked George, “Are you going to behave?”
Answering for him, Obama replied: “Nope.”
While George’s playful interactions with Michelle Obama have gone viral in the past, the former first lady, 61, was noticeably absent from Monday’s ceremony.
“There’s no overstating her feelings about [Trump]. She’s not one to plaster on a pleasant face and pretend for protocol’s sake,” a source told PEOPLE on Jan. 15. “Michelle doesn’t do anything because it’s expected or it’s protocol or it’s tradition.”
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The source added that Michelle “doesn’t feel the need to be a public figure anymore,” after serving as a first lady from 2009 to 2017 during Barack’s presidency.
The insider also made note of Trump’s history of verbally attacking the Obamas and making disparaging comments about people of color, which may have also contributed to Michelle’s absence.
Still, Barack and George seemed to enjoy each other’s company at the inauguration, as well as other recent events.
During Jimmy Carter’s state funeral on Jan. 9, all of the living U.S. presidents and all of the surviving first ladies (except Michelle due to a scheduling conflict) paid their respects to the 39th American president in Washington at the National Cathedral.
With Barack already being seated next to Donald and Melania Trump, when George and Laura made their way to their seats on the same row, George gave Barack a friendly tap on the belly with his knuckles.
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After George’s presidency from 2001 to 2009, Barack followed with two consecutive terms as well.
During a 2018 interview with Today, Michelle referred to George as “my partner in crime at every major thing where all the formers gather.”
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“So we’re together all the time, and I love him to death,” she continued at the time, calling the 43rd president a “wonderful” and “funny” man.
That same year, George told PEOPLE, “[Michelle] kind of likes my sense of humor. Anybody who likes my sense of humor, I immediately like.”
