Trump Claims Obama Is “Behind” Protests Against Him And White House Leaks

February 28, 2017 in News by RBN Staff

 

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Source: Buzzfeed

“I think President Obama’s behind it, because his people are certainly behind it. And some of the leaks possibly come from that group.”

President Donald Trump has accused former President Barack Obama of organizing recent protests against him and other Republicans, as well as leaking information from the White House to the press.

In an interview that aired Tuesday morning on Fox and Friends, Trump was asked if he believed Obama was organizing recent protests across the country, including a series of raucous GOP town halls.

“I think he is behind it,” Trump replied. “I also think it’s politics.”

Trump said he believed Obama’s “people” are behind “some of the leaks, which are really very serious, because they’re very bad in terms of national security.”

Read the full transcript from that section of the interview here:

Fox & Friends: Can we talk about President Obama? You said you personally get along with him. You guys were going at each other for three, four, eight years. It turns out a lot of his people are organizing, do you think he is behind it?

Trump: No, I think he is behind it. I also think it’s politics. That’s the way it is.

Fox & Friends: Bush wasn’t going after Clinton, Clinton wasn’t going after Bush.

Trump: Well, you never know exactly what’s happening behind the scenes. You’re possibly right but you never know. But I think President Obama’s behind it, because his people are certainly behind it. And some of the leaks possibly come from that group. You know, some of the leaks, which are really very serious leaks, because they’re very bad in terms of national security, but I also understand that’s politics. And in terms of him being behind things, that’s politics, and it will probably continue.

Trump addressed a number of other areas during the interview, including his proposed $54 billion of additional defense spending. He said that the money would come from a “revved-up economy,” adding that it would be a “whole new ball game” if he could increase GDP growth to “three or four percent.”

He also said he would “do things with other countries” where the US would “ask for a form of reimbursement” for military assistance.

Speaking of his decision to skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump was asked if he could name any instance where he thought negative press coverage against him had been deserved, having previously said he could take “hits” when they’re “fair.”

He responded: “I probably couldn’t do that,” before joking, “I’m not going to give you any ideas!”

He added that he would not be attending the dinner because he thought it would be inappropriate “in light of the fact of fake news,” and reiterated accusations that a parts of the news media had made up sources and stories when covering him.

 

The president also said his Twitter use isn’t “venting” and that he uses the medium, in part, to go around the “dishonest media” in an attempt to get his message out without his meaning being altered.

“I have so many millions of people, it allows me to give a message without necessarily having to go through people where I’m giving them a message and they’re putting it down differently from what I mean,” Trump said.

When asked what sort of grade the president would give himself for his work so far, he said that he’d give himself an A for achievement but in terms of getting his message out to the American people, he was probably at a C or a C-plus.

 

Trump has been vociferous in attacking media outlets he perceives to be hostile to him in recent weeks, and has branded a number of outlets “fake news”. However, he has been vocally supportive of Fox and Friends’ coverage, tweeting that it was “great” earlier this month.

Michelle Broder Van Dyke is a reporter and night editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in Hawaii.
Contact Michelle Broder Van Dyke at michelle@buzzfeed.com.
Francis Whittaker is a homepage editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in London.
Contact Francis Whittaker at francis.whittaker@buzzfeed.com.
Jessica Simeone is a news assignment editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact Jessica Simeone at jessica.simeone@buzzfeed.com.
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