Concerns Over Trump’s Accusations Against Obama
Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta shared his unease on Thursday regarding comments made about President Obama. During a press conference in the Oval Office, the current president accused Obama of “treason,” which Acosta, in a conversation with podcast host Charlie Sykes, described as “very dangerous.” He warned this kind of rhetoric could provoke violence against the former president from some of Trump’s supporters.
“It’s extremely dangerous for Donald Trump to accuse Barack Obama of treason,” Acosta articulated. “He knows exactly what he’s doing by putting such statements out there, especially given the fringe base that rallies around him. This kind of talk could genuinely endanger Obama’s life.”
Moreover, Acosta expressed concern that Trump seems to be in direct conflict with the truth, using lies about both the election and Obama as weapons. “These are his weapons of mass destruction,” he remarked. “What he’s doing is an assault on the truth in this country.”
Acosta stressed the potential risks arising from Trump’s statements, although it seems just a few months earlier he didn’t raise alarms during an interview that focused on Trump’s rhetoric when he was president. He noted, “We need to scrutinize how he threatens American democracy and his role in fueling extremist sentiments.”
Roughly three months after that interview, Trump was targeted during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and faced another assassination attempt in September. The suspect in that second incident, Ryan Wesley Rouse, reportedly had previously contributed to the Democrats while residing in Hawaii.
Interestingly, Rouse’s social media posts shared sentiments similar to Acosta’s, highlighting a perception that “democracy is on the line.” In one of his remarks, Rouse referenced then-President Biden, suggesting his campaign needed a shift towards democracy.
In the backdrop of these tensions, Trump’s claims about Obama have been framed as a response to declassified information from the Director of National Intelligence, who asserted there was “overwhelming evidence” the Obama administration manipulated intelligence post-2016 election.
