Trump accuses Obama of trying to ‘lead a coup' against him. Dems say he's distracting from Epstein scandal
President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against former President Barack Obama, again accusing his predecessor, without evidence, of personally targeting him with a federal investigation of his 2016 presidential campaign and its communications with Russia related to election interference.
On Tuesday, while in the Oval Office with the president of the Philippines, Trump revisited his claims that Obama ordered his administration to go after him amid the intelligence community's investigation of Russia's involvement in trying to interfere in the 2016 election in favor of Trump, who, ultimately, defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a shocking outcome.
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of National Intelligence, claimed as much after her office released a memo on Friday. Gabbard accused the Obama-led intelligence community of 'treasonous conspiracy,' though her supposed evidence isn't strongly supported, according to a fact check by The Washington Post.
After posting over the weekend an AI-generated video of Obama being arrested, Trump continued his political attacks on America's first Black president, calling him 'guilty' of treason and trying to 'steal the election' from him.
'This is like proof, irrefutable proof that Obama was sedacious,' said Trump, who mispronounced the word 'seditious,' meaning a rebellion against a lawful authority. He continued, 'Obama…was trying to lead a coup. And it was with Hillary Clinton, with all these other people, but Obama headed it up.'
Trump claimed his administration uncovered 'the biggest scandal in the history of our country.'
At the root of Trump's anger is a years-long investigation of Trump and his 2016 campaign's communications with Russia and whether or not they had engaged in a conspiracy with the foreign adversary to win the election. While Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded there was no evidence of conspiracy, he did point out 10 instances of possible obstructions of justice committed by President Trump during his first term, including the firing of FBI Director James Comey, who led the investigation.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly pointed to a dossier gathered by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, which contained unproven salacious accusations about Trump and an alleged conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. While much of the salacious content in the dossier was uncorroborated, other reports about Russia's intent to damage Clinton's campaign in favor of Trump, and, more importantly, influence the outcome of the election, have been heavily supported by several investigations.
A spokesperson for President Obama on Tuesday slammed the Trump administration's 'bizarre allegations' as a 'ridiculous and weak attempt at distraction.'
Referring to the DNI report released last week, spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said, 'Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.'
He added that those findings were also affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio, who is now Trump's Secretary of State and National Security advisor.
Democrats have swiftly dismissed Trump's false claims about Obama. Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Monday that Trump and his administration are 'running scared' because of the groundswell of public demand for them to release FBI files related to convicted child pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, a former close friend of Trump.
'What are they hiding from the American people?' said Jeffries.
Reecie Colbert, a Democratic strategist, told theGrio that Trump is 'desperate to change the subject away from this Epstein scandal, the discontent with his base, and the disastrous Big, Beautiful Bill, which is weighing on his poll numbers.' She continued, 'He's deflecting, and he's hoping to give his base some red meat.'
Colbert, who said Trump is in a 'one-way feud with President Obama,' said it's ironic that Trump is calling for the arrest of Obama, considering his criminal conviction and previous indictments that were dismissed as a result of his 2024 election win.
'He is the one who has 35 felony convictions, and he's the one who got out of 80 more indictments for his criminal behavior,' said Colbert.
More must-reads:
Ayanna Pressley says Trump release of MLK files reflects more sinister attack on Black leadership and history
Kamala Harris marks 1-year anniversary of historic presidential campaign as she weighs next move
Trump administration released FBI records on MLK Jr. despite his family's opposition
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