Pres. Trump on death of Otto Warmbier: “It’s a disgrace…if he were brought home sooner, I think the result would have been a lot different” pic.twitter.com/0LXjjDzXPC
— ABC News (@ABC) June 20, 2017
Let’s see. So far President Obama has (a) wiretapped Trump, (b) deliberately planned the destruction of Obamacare for 2017, (c) caused the Mike Flynn debacle by failing to properly vet Flynn,1 (d) personally organized anti-Trump protests around the country, and (e) caused the death of Otto Warmbier because he was too weak-kneed to stand up to North Korea.
It’s standard practice for new presidents to declare that “things are even worse than I thought,” usually offered up as an excuse for why the country hasn’t blossomed under new leadership within the first month.2 It’s also standard to attack your predecessor’s policies. But it’s decidedly not standard to accuse your predecessor personally of illegal, unethical, and cowardly acts.
I suppose Obama will continue to stay quiet about this, partly because it’s tradition, partly because that’s who he is, and partly because speaking up might be counterproductive at the moment. But I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who wishes he’d toss tradition aside and just lay into Trump. I’d pay to see it.
1For the record, Flynn was fired by Obama in 2014 because he had become deranged. Obama personally warned Trump about this.
2Also newly elected governors, mayors, district attorneys, sheriffs, dogcatchers, and PTA presidents.
