Obama releases rare statement after Trump claimed former president was 'guilty' of 'treason'
Former President Barack Obama has issued a rare response to President Donald Trump after he accused him of being guilty of treason.
The 79-year-old POTUS has long employed smear tactics on his political opponents and predecessors, and for the most part 63-year-old Obama has sat back and taken it - brushing off the countless allegations.
However, after the Republican claimed the Democrat is 'guilty' of trying to undermine the results of the 2016 election - in which Trump beat Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton - the 44th US president bit back.
Trump's comments came from within the Oval Office, while he was speaking to reporters yesterday (July 22).
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"It's there, he's guilty. This was treason," Trump claimed of Obama. "They tried to steal the election, they tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody's ever imagined, even in other countries."
Trump is accusing Obama of manipulating intelligence to suggest Russia interfered in the 2016 election and undermine his victory.
While the Obama administration did claim that Russia attempted to interfere in that election, it clarified it was not successful in swaying the result.
Once again, the New Yorker failed to provide any evidence, while referencing the Obama administration - and it came just four days after the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, accused Obama of 'treasonous conspiracy' while probing Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election.
Russia has insisted that it did not interfere.
On Friday, Gabbard threatened to refer Obama's top officials to the Justice Department for prosecution over the matter.
Now, Obama's spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush has responded on behalf of the president to these 'bizarre' and 'ridiculous' allegations.
“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,” Rodenbush said. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one.”
He continued: "These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."
Rodenbush noted that a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report in 2020 found that Russia had in fact tried to sway the 2016 election in Trump's favor, through Republican political operative Paul Manafort and the WikiLeaks website.
"Nothing in the document issued last week (by Gabbard) undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes," Rodenbush added.
It comes after the Trump administration's controversial handling of the Epstein files has caused some MAGA supporters to split from the movement.
Earlier this month, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that no more files were to be released and that Jeffrey Epstein did not have a 'client list' - which appeared to contradict her previous statements.
Following the news, MAGA supporters voiced their concern about the Trump administration and a 'Student Action Summit' was even held by Turning Point USA, a student conservative activist group, with the Epstein files being a major topic of discussion.
Topics: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, US News
Joe Yates