There are, however, occasional exceptions. NBC News reported:

Former President Barack Obama’s 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.”.....

What’s 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 Trump’s 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 who’s a little too eager to make the president happy, it’s 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.”

It’s a quote that came to mind anew this week.