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Newsweek
6 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Barack Obama Sees Death Threat Surge After Trump's Treason Claims
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Former U.S. President Barack Obama has been the subject of online death threats and calls for imprisonment after President Donald Trump and the director of national intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard accused him of treason regarding Russian influence in previous presidential elections. According to a report by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), social media comments calling for Obama's imprisonment or execution surged between July 17 and July 20, after the administration claimed Obama's administration "manipulated and withheld" key information on the extent to which Russia was involved in the 2016 election. Obama has denied the allegations. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Newsweek: "President Trump and the entire administration strongly condemn all forms of violence. The Trump administration also believes in accountability and that individuals who participate in criminal activity should be held to the fullest extent of the law." A DNI spokesperson said: "DNI Gabbard strongly condemns all forms of violence. The Director also believes in shining light on the truth, investigating wrongdoing, and holding those who participate in criminal activities accountable to the fullest extent of the law." Newsweek contacted Obama's office by email to comment on this story. Former President Barack Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, Dec. 5, 2024, in Chicago. Former President Barack Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, Dec. 5, 2024, in Chicago. AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File The threats started after Gabbard released a report on Friday alleging that Obama and members of his administration manufactured intelligence regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election to "lay the groundwork for what was essentially a yearslong coup against President Trump." She said she would refer the officials to the Justice Department for prosecution. Then on Sunday Trump weighed in and posted an AI-generated video to his social media platform, Truth Social, which showed Obama being arrested and put in jail. Since then, between July 17 and July 20, comments targeting Obama have surged on Truth Social, Gab and Telegram, the researchers found. On Truth Social, comments made calling Obama treasonous and deserving of either imprisonment or execution rose from three to 36, an 1,100 percent increase. On Gab, these comments increased from nine to 48—a 433 percent increase. And on Telegram, comments of this ilk increased from zero to 12. GPAHE told Newsweek: "GPAHE's research continues to show a spike in online bigoted and violent rhetoric whenever the president targets people with his online posts. The combination of Director Gabbard's and President Trump's conspiracy-laden and racist posts, not only inflamed extremists, but further normalized language and ideas that are completely unacceptable in a thriving democracy. We, as a nation, cannot contribute to this normalization by staying silent." Since the time period the researchers investigated, Trump has continued to make comments about Obama. On Tuesday, he called the former president "the leader of the gang" when it came to the Russia investigation. He said: "He's guilty. This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody's ever even imagined." He added that it was "time to go after people," and accused other political opponents including former CIA director John Brennan of unlawfully conspiring against him. Later that day, Obama's office released a statement rebutting the allegations, which they called "outrageous." "Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction," the statement 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," Obama's spokesperson, Patrick Rodenbush, said. "These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio."
New York Post
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Bush teams up with notorious Trump foes to trash ‘colossal mistake' shuttering USAID
Former President George W. Bush joined up with former President Barack Obama and U2 singer Bono to comfort United States Agency for International Development employees Monday, while also taking shots at President Donald Trump and his administration for shuttering the agency plagued by accusations of fraud and abuse. 'Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it's a tragedy,' Obama said in a video that was shown to departing USAID employees Monday, according to the Associated Press. 'Because it's some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world.' Obama summed up the decision to shutter the agency as 'a colossal mistake,' and added that 'sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.' Bush, Obama and Bono spoke to departing USAID employees Monday in a videoconference as the agency officially was shuttered following the Trump administration's reporting that it was overrun with alleged corruption and mismanagement. The videoconference did not include members of the media, with the Associated Press reviewing and reporting on clips of the conference later that day. 6 Former President George W. Bush attends a baseball game, May 15, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. AP USAID is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations. It was one of the first agencies investigated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in early February for alleged mismanagement and government overspending, with DOGE's then-leader Elon Musk slamming the agency as 'a viper's nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.' USAID officially was absorbed by the State Department Tuesday. Bush, who overwhelmingly has shied away from publicly criticizing Trump, lamented in his recorded message to the staffers that the end of USAID marks an end to his administration's work rolling out an AIDS and HIV program that is credited with saving 25 million people nationwide. 6 Bono poses for photographers at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 17, 2025. Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP 'You've showed the great strength of America through your work — and that is your good heart,'' Bush told USAID staffers, according to the Associated Press. 'Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you.' Bono of U2 fame recited a poem he wrote reflecting on USAID's closure and his claims that millions around the world will likely now die, according to the Associated Press. 'They called you crooks. When you were the best of us,' Bono said. Fox News Digital reached out to Obama's and Bush's respective offices Wednesday morning for additional comment, but did not receive responses. 6 Former President Barack Obama speaks at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, Dec. 5, 2024, in Chicago. AP Other longtime Trump foes, such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, thanked foreign service officers for their work before USAID's closure. 'In all my years of service, I found that foreign service officers and development professionals were among the most dedicated public servants I encountered,' Clinton posted to X Tuesday. 'Their work saves lives and makes the world safer. Today, and every day, I stand with them.' Obama and Bush overwhelmingly have remained tight-lipped on their views of Trump under his second administration, with both former presidents attending Trump's inauguration and not weighing in on the majority of Trump's policies. Obama has taken issue with Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' which is clearing its final hurdles to passage and will fund Trump's agenda on social media, while Bush has consistently shied away from public rebukes of Trump in recent history. 6 USAID logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. REUTERS Bono previously has claimed that cuts to USAID would kill hundreds of thousands of people, and had slammed Trump in 2016 as 'potentially the worst idea that ever happened to America.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was serving as acting administrator of USAID, announced the State Department absorbed USAID's foreign assistance programs Tuesday after decades of failing to ensure the programs it funded actually supported America's interests. 'Beyond creating a globe-spanning NGO industrial complex at taxpayer expense, USAID has little to show since the end of the Cold War,' Rubio wrote in his announcement. 'Development objectives have rarely been met, instability has often worsened, and anti-American sentiment has only grown.' 6 A person carries a sign in support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) workers, as they carry their personal belongings after retrieving them from the USAID's headquarters in Washington, Feb. 27, 2025. AP 'This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end,' he continued. 'Under the Trump Administration, we will finally have a foreign funding mission in America that prioritizes our national interests. As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance. 'Foreign assistance programs that align with administration policies—and which advance American interests—will be administered by the State Department, where they will be delivered with more accountability, strategy, and efficiency.' The shuttering comes after DOGE gutted USAID as part of Trump's effort to remove waste, fraud and abuse from the federal government earlier in 2025. 6 Flowers and a sign are placed outside the headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. AP Trump repeatedly had touted DOGE's work uncovering fraud and mismanagement within the federal government, including in his March address before Congress celebrating that DOGE identified $22 billion in government 'waste,' including at USAID. 'Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,' Trump said as he rattled off various examples of federal waste. 'Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. 'Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.'
