Since leaving office, former President Barack Obama has avoided major public speeches.
That was until Tuesday when he spoke in South Africa to a crowd of around 15,000 people.
And when he stepped up to the podium he chose to launch a disgusting anti-Trump attack.
Former President Obama’s first major speech since leaving office was done in honor of the 100th birthday of former South African President Nelson Mandela. The speech was largely in honor of the late Mandela, but as expected he couldn’t avoid bringing up President Donald Trump.
While he didn’t directly mention Trump’s name, it is entirely clear to anybody whose head isn’t under a rock that he was talking about the President. He launched into a tirade about rejecting “strongman politics,” stating that the “politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment” is on the move.
In the eyes of somebody like Barack Obama, those claims are clearly referring to Trump. Obama has made attacking Trump without mentioning his name a recurring theme in speaking appearances.
It isn’t surprising that Obama would go after “strongman politics” considering that his entire presidency was highlighted by weak leadership and apologies. For most of his first term, Obama led an “apology tour” around the world apologizing for the United States.
Along with his apology tour, Obama routinely allowed the United States to be ripped off with unfair trade and defense deals which Trump has fought to correct.
Just this month Trump forced NATO countries to spend money on their own defense instead of relying on being subsidized by U.S. taxpayers.
Trump has also fought hard for fairer trade deals. He has levied heavy tariffs on China and threatened multiple other countries with the same in order to encourage trade deals that are mutually beneficial.
That’s why it wasn’t surprising when Obama went directly against “protectionism,” and instead felt that the President should not fight for the interests of American citizens when crafting trade deals.
Along with attacking protectionism, Obama warned about climate change denial and closed borders, which were almost certainly attacks on Trump, who made immigration a major plank of his platform, as well as leaving the Paris Climate Accord.
This speech clearly shows that the attacks from former President Obama on Trump will almost certainly be coming more often.
With the upcoming midterm elections, it will not be surprising to see Obama speak publicly against Trump, or at least his policies, more often.
Historically this has been something that former Presidents have avoided doing.
Throughout the eight years of Barack Obama, his predecessor George W. Bush avoided attacking Obama, and presidents before then generally did the same.
But it seems that President Trump is different than any other President. Trump is directly challenging the political establishment and winning.
Obama is clearly afraid of this and knows that Trump has the possibility of reversing his entire agenda unless he is stopped.
Do you think that former presidents should attack their replacements?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
