Barack Obama laughed at controversial bin Laden joke at worst possible moment despite knowing US was about to change forever
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: CBS / Stringer / Getty Images
In an incredibly awkward moment, Barack Obama was caught on camera laughing at a poorly-timed joke about Osama bin Laden, just hours before his military operation would result in the terror leader's death.
It was on May 1, 2011 when comedian Seth Myers made a joke at a White House dinner, completely unaware of the secret plans to take the Al-Qaeda terrorist out.
The footage of the joke being told was shown as part of a new three-part documentary series on Netflix.
Titled American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden, it goes in-depth on the US' military operation to capture and kill bin Laden - who was responsible for the devastating September 11 attacks - and the months and weeks of preparation that was carried out before.
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Bin Laden's death was part of Operation Neptune Spear, in which US officials carried out a targeted attack to kill the extremist, with him being killed at a compound in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.
Navy SEALs and US Intelligence officers had been monitoring Bin Laden's hideout for months in the run up to the mission.
The White House dinner was hosted as normal the night before the attack, with president at the time Barack Obama being in attendance to avoid arousing suspicion.
Leon Panetta was the leader of the CIA at the time of the attack, and he opened up in the Netflix docuseries about the difficulties in continuing on with business as normal, even under such stressful conditions.
Panetta explained: "We all had to go because if we didn't, questions would be raised. It was difficult, I had tremendous respect for his ability (Barack Obama) to basically play the part of president of the United States."
Obama alluded to the chaos with a wry remark in his speech, joking :"What a week."
The seemingly-casual comment took on a whole new meaning in light of what happened next.
His wasn't the only noticeable comment, with comedian Seth Myers joking: "People think bin Laden is hiding in the Hindu Kush, but did you know that every day from 4 to 5, he hosts a show on CSPAN?" Check out the moment below:
There was a lot of laughter at the joke, with the cameras capturing Obama laughing along with everyone else, despite him knowing exactly what was in the works.
Panetta said of the joke: "Everybody laughed and we all kind of deep down thought, 'If only you knew what I knew what was going to happen the next day, the most classified operation in the last 20 years'."
The mission was fortunately a success, despite the immense pressure, which saw the US Navy SEALs involved having to say goodbye to their families in case it didn't go to plan - but it went off without a hitch.
Navy SEAL Robert O'Neill was the one to killed bin Laden, before his body was buried at sea at an undisclosed location.
The announcement of his death was made by Obama, confirming that the manhunt for one of the world's most notorious terrorists was over.