Former U.S. President Barack Obama participates in a political rally for California Democratic candidates during a event in Anaheim, California, U.S. September 8, 2018.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama slammed his successor President Trump during a speech at the University of Illinois on Friday.
“It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause. He's just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years. A fear and anger that's rooted in our past, but it's also born out of the enormous upheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes,” Obama said last week.
Obama’s remarks were the first time he directly took aim at Trump since leaving office.
“The politics of division and resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home in the Republican Party,” Obama, a Democrat, said.
Former President Barack Obama launched an opening campaign salvo against incumbent President Donald Trump Friday, saying Trump is "the symptom, not the cause" of divisions plaguing the U.S.Obama told an audience of more than a thousand students at the University of Illinois his successor is "just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years.""What’s gonna fix our democracy is you," he said.Obama is seeking to rally support for Democrats as Americans prepare to head to the voting booth Nov. 6 in elections that will see one-third of Senate seats up for grabs, as well as all seats in the House of Representatives. Republicans currently control both chambers, but have a narrow hold on the Senate.Trump, too, has been working to shore up support for his party as the polls approach, holding campaign-style rallies for Republicans running for office, regularly touting the U.S.'s surging economy.But Obama pointed to his own role in bringing the U.S. out of one of the worst economic recessions it has experienced, saying "let's just remember when this recovery started."The comments drew a rebuke from Trump who told his own rally in Fargo, North Dakota, "Obama was trying to take credit for this incredible thing that’s happening."“I have to say this to President Obama: if the Dems got in with their agenda in November of almost 2 years ago, instead of having 4.2 up, i believe honestly we’d have 4.2 down," Trump said, referring to the U.S.'s economic growth.Obama also took aim at the Republican Party directly saying "the politics of resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home" in the party."What happened to the Republican Party?" he asked rhetorically.Trump says government shutdown not likely before November electionTrump admin seeks to detain migrant children longerSenior Trump official describes resistance inside administration: NY Times Op-EdTrump denies claim he sought Assad's assassinationTrump rips Nike for Kaepernick ad campaign
Obama rips Trump ahead of US midterm elections
“Just a glance at recent headlines should tell you this moment really is different. The stakes really are higher. The consequences of any of us sitting on the sidelines are more dire,” he added, calling for voters to vote in the November midterm elections.
“This is not normal. It's radical. It's a vision that says the protection of our power and those who back us is all that matters, even when it hurts the country. It's a vision that says the few who can afford a high-priced lobbyist and unlimited campaign contributions set the agenda. And over the past two years, this vision is now nearing its logical conclusion.”
Many senior officials in President Donald Trump's administration have been working from within to frustrate parts of his agenda to protect the country from his worst impulses, an anonymous Trump official wrote in the New York Times on Wednesday.In the column, the official described "early whispers" among members of Trump's Cabinet to take steps to remove him as president, but added they decided against it to avoid a constitutional crisis.The official wrote that the root of the problem was that Trump is amoral and not moored to any discernible principles that guide his decision-making."It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room," the author wrote.Pompeo says did not author New York Times 'resistance' columnAsked about the column during a White House event, Trump called it a "gutless editorial," bashed the New York Times as "failing," and ticked off economic achievements that he said were proof of his leadership.Staring into the cameras, he said: "Nobody is going to come close to beating me in 2020 because of what we've done."The Republican president later fired off a one-word message on Twitter: "TREASON?"In another tweet, he said: "If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!"Trump thanks N.Korea's Kim, says 'we will get it done together'Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on a visit to India, said he was not the author of the memo."I come from a place where if you’re not in a position to execute the commander’s intent, you have a singular option, that is to leave," he told reporters at an impromptu briefing at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi."And this person instead, according to the New York Times, chose not only to stay but to undermine what President Trump and this administration are trying to do."The Times took what it called the rare step of publishing an opinion column by the official under an agreement to keep the author's name secret. It said the senior administration official's job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.The article further fueled accusations by critics that Trump was unstable and unfit for the presidency, and seemed likely to resurrect talk among some Democrats about potentially impeaching the president should they take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November elections.Worries over Trump shoot to top of German fear ranking25TH AMENDMENTThere was an immediate guessing game in Washington about who wrote the article and whether it came from someone within the White House or in another government agency.The opinion piece followed publication on Tuesday of the first excerpts from a book by famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward describing chaos in the White House.Woodward reported that Defense Secretary James Mattis rejected a recommendation from Trump for the U.S. military to kill Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to excerpts published by the Washington Post.Mattis dismissed the book as "a uniquely Washington brand of literature," and Trump has called it "total fiction."Trump denies claim he sought Assad's assassinationIn the Times piece, the official wrote: "Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the Cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president."But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over," the author added.Under the 25th Amendment, adopted in 1967, the vice president and a majority of either Cabinet officials or "such other body as Congress may by law provide" may declare in writing that the president "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."Trump rips Nike for Kaepernick ad campaignIt has never been used to strip a president from power and would be a complicated process."We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous," the writer said. "But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic."
Senior Trump official describes resistance inside administration: NY Times Op-Ed
Former top White House official says Trump is facing a coup
Referring to an anonymous column in the New York Times detailing resistance within the Trump administration, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said Trump is facing a “coup.”
“This is a direct attack on the institutions. This is a coup,” said Bannon.
The column was published on Wednesday and was written by an unnamed senior administration official, the New York Times said.
The writer slammed Trump’s “amorality” and said: “Many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”