When we imagine US presidents in their youth, most of us picture young worker bees who spend the majority of their time studying and ensuring their record is as clean as a whistle. However, not all American leaders have unblemished pasts. Namely, former President Barack Obama.
At a recent campaign rally in Anaheim, California, held for seven Democrats running in the midterm elections, the 57-year-old shocked the crowd by revealing that he had once been kicked out of Disneyland. Yes, as crazy as it sounds, the 44th president of the United States has been living on the wrong side of the law all this time and we had no idea.
So, how exactly did this all go down? What did Obama do to make Disney mad? Well, it all started during the American politician's days as an Occidental College student in Los Angeles.
As a young'un, Obama travelled down to the park with some friends to see R&B band Kool & the Gang. After the concert, the rebellious young man and his friends stayed in the park and made their way to the Magic Kingdom Skyway gondolas to have a smoke.
In Obama's own words: "I'm ashamed to say this, so close your ears young people, but a few of us were smoking on the gondolas. These were cigarettes, people. Terrible thing, but I'm a teenager, I'm rebellious."
As the crowd at the rally cheered and whistled, Obama then described reaching the end of the gondola route to be received by "two very large Disneyland police officers." "They say, sir, can you come with us," he said. "And they escorted us out of Disneyland. This is a true story everybody. I was booted from the Magic Kingdom."
In addition, the father-of-two revealed that, despite removing him from the park, overly polite Disney police made sure to extend an invitation for next time. "They said, 'You're going to have to leave sir, for breaking the rules of the Magic Kingdom, but you are welcome to back anytime,' which I thought, 'That was nice of them,'" Obama said. "Anyway, those are my memories of Disneyland."
So, there you have it. Not so squeaky clean after all, Mr Obama.
Along with the crowd at the event, people on social media were thrilled with this anecdote from the politician's past, with many taking to Twitter to express their amusement.
"Obama telling the story of getting booted from Disneyland for smoking cigarettes as a teenager is possibly the most humanizing thing from a politician I’ve ever heard," a user going by the username of @MikeMcDTweets wrote. Another social media user named @CarrieKHutchens agreed, putting "Awwwww... such a cutsey story...".
So, the question is: did Obama ever take up the Disney police on that offer to return to the Happiest Place on Earth? The answer is yes, with the 57-year-old making history by becoming the fourth sitting president to ever visit a Disney theme park back in 2012. We're guessing he didn't get kicked out that time.