Mr Obama made the remarks while accepting an award at the University of Illinois
 |
| Mr Obama made the remarks while accepting an award at the University of Illinois |
BARACK Obama ripped into his presidential successor Donald Trump – saying he was a “symptom” of division and polarisation in America.
The former commander-in-chief, speaking at the University of Illinois, said President Trump was “just capitalising on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years”.
His remarks, while accepting an ethics in government award, marked his return to the political fray ahead of the mid-term US elections in November.
In unusually direct terms, he made clear his concerns about politics in the Trump era and implored voters - especially young people - to show up at the polls.
Obama said: “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.”
Obama also aimed another jab at Trump by asking his audience how hard it was to criticise Nazi sympathisers – in a reference to the race riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year.
 |
| Trump wants his attorney general to investigate which senior staffer had wrote an anonymous opinion piece for the New York Times |
Trump was blasted for saying blame lay on both sides for the clashes between demonstrators and pro-white groups.
Obama added: “This is not normal. You should still be concerned with our current course. You should still want to see a restoration of honesty and decency and lawfulness in our government.
“It should not be a Democratic or Republican, it should not be a partisan issue to say that we do not pressure the attorney general or the FBI to use the criminal justice system as a cudgel to punish our political opponents.”
He spoke hours after it was revealed Trump wanted his attorney general to investigate which of his senior staffers had written an anonymous opinion piece for the New York Times.
It criticised Trump as “amoral” and the writer said they were part of a “resistance” in the White House.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment