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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMaddow Blog-'Ridiculous': Obama's patience wears thin in response to Trump's latest hysterics
In terms of day-to-day events, the former president tends to steer clear of the arena. There are, however, occasional exceptions.
Iâm finding it tough to shrug with indifference as Trump falsely accuses Obama of âtreason.â
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-23T13:01:14.133Z
Yes, itâs a clumsy effort to distract attention from his Epstein scandal, but as @sykescharlie.bsky.social once put it, âA clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.â www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/obamas-patience-wears-thin-response-trumps-treason-accusation-ridiculo-rcna220462
There are, however, occasional exceptions. NBC News reported:
Former President Barack Obamas office issued a rare rebuke of President Donald Trump on Tuesday after the president accused his predecessor of having committed treason and rigging the 2016 and 2020 elections.
A written statement issued from a spokesperson for the former president spanned just six sentences, though it said quite a bit.
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, the statement read. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.
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. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio......
Whats less clear is what might happen next. Under normal circumstances, a sitting president accusing his predecessor of treason would be a stop-the-presses moment in American politics, but the reaction to Trumps meltdown was largely muted, in part because so many observers worked from the assumption that the Republican routinely makes bonkers claims, which amount to very little, and his latest absurdities are little more than a clumsy effort to distract attention away from his Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Perhaps. But with the White House pulling the strings at the Justice Department, and Attorney General Pam Bondi effectively positioning herself as a political operative whos a little too eager to make the president happy, its hardly outlandish to wonder whether federal prosecutors might actually try to build a case against the former Democratic president.
Around this time four years ago, Charlie Sykes said during an appearance on MSNBC, A clown with a flamethrower still has a flamethrower.
Its a quote that came to mind anew this week.

displacedvermoter
(3,878 posts)Is finding it ironic that after so carefully avoiding any appearance of political retribution when dealing with the Administration he replaced -- "look forward not backwards" -- where he finds himself now.
LetMyPeopleVote
(166,580 posts)The Supreme Court ruling that benefited Trump would also benefit any other former president prosecuted over their actions in office.
Seems possible - maybe even likely - that Trump thought presidential immunity was only for him.
— @jimrissmiller.bsky.social 2025-07-23T17:18:57.827Z
As usual, he was a long ways from correct.
One of the many roadblocks to Trump prosecuting Obama: presidential immunity www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-obama-treason-presidential-immunity-rcna220479
Trump v. United States wouldnt be the only roadblock to the Trump Justice Department prosecuting the Democrat indeed, its unclear what a criminal case against him would be. Trumps allegations came as his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, claimed that Obama and his national security Cabinet members manufactured and politicized intelligence to lay the groundwork for what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump after Trump won the 2016 election. Gabbard said shes making a criminal referral to the DOJ.
An Obama spokesperson said the former presidents office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response, but added that these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.....
But if the Trump DOJ charges Obama again, its unclear what statutes the DOJ would use or what the theory of the case would be among the things Obamas counsel could point to is the immunity ruling.
And while Chief Justice John Roberts opinion didnt fully flesh out how broadly presidential immunity applies, an important procedural aspect of the ruling is that it emphasized that former presidents are entitled to pretrial immunity appeals. That would be valuable to Obama in this hypothetical scenario, because he could raise the immunity issue at the outset and potentially end the case before it got going.
spanone
(139,677 posts)Nothing too crazy for them.