Video of Obama Calling Kanye West 'Jackass' in 2009 Resurfaces Online

A video of President Barack Obama branding Kanye West "a jackass" has resurfaced on social media in the wake of the U.S. rapper's controversial comments on antisemitism and Adolf Hitler.

The clip, which was shared to Twitter by Jack Cocchiarella, has been viewed over 100,000 times online. "President Obama called Kanye West a 'Jackass' in 2009," Cocchiarella, a Democratic social media activist, wrote alongside the footage. "As always, President Obama was right."

Cocchiarella shared the video in the wake of Ye's controversial appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars on Thursday, in which the rapper praised Adolf Hitler and argued that the Nazi regime did some good.

Ye, who wore a mask during the interview, also denigrated Jewish people and Israel, while claiming nobody knew the meaning of antisemitism until he started sharing conspiracy theories about the Jewish race over the past few months.

The musician has since been suspended from Twitter after sharing an image of a swastika blended with the Star of David.

Obama's remarks about Ye date back to September 2009 and the media storm created when the musician, who now goes by the name Ye, interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Swift had just won the award for Best Video by a Female Artist when Ye stormed the stage, telling her: "I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!"

Obama weighed into the debate during an off-the-record portion of a television interview with CNBC. "The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person, she's getting her award, what's he doing up there," Obama says on the video.

"Why would he do that?" someone off-camera asks. "He's a jackass," Obama replies, in a remark that prompts laughter among those in the room.

Suddenly aware of what he's just said, Obama continues: "Now, all of this stuff...[makes a cutting gesture with his hand] I'm assuming all this stuff...where's the pool? Come on guys, cut the president some slack."

The remarks were made public when ABC reporter Terry Moran tweeted out the footage writing: "Pres Obama just called Kanye West a 'jackass' for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential."

ABC later apologized to the White House for making the comments, that were off-the-record, public: "In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview," it said.

"This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again."

Ye went on to address Obama's comments in an interview with XXL in 2010. "Obama has way more important stuff to worry about than my public perception," he said. "If he said that to relate to the room or lighten the room up and the whole mood, then I'd be more than happy to be the butt of all of his jokes if it in some way helps his overall mission."

However, Obama appeared to double down on his comments in a 2012 interview with Atlantic Monthly where he was asked to choose between Ye and fellow rapper Jay-Z.

"Jay-Z," he said. "Although I like Kanye. He's a Chicago guy. Smart. He's very talented." The reporter then asked, "Even though you called him a jackass?" with Obama responding: "He is a jackass. But he's talented."