The Daily Populous Saturday April 5th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by thedailybeast.com and submitted by Quirkie

The two-term former president of the United States has watched the White House chaos from afar and, suffice to say, he’s not happy. In a Thursday appearance at Hamilton College in upstate New York, Obama criticized President Donald Trump’s attempts to slash the federal government, deport protesters, crack down on immigration, and silence the free press.

“It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me, or a whole bunch of my predecessors,” he said.

Obama and Trump sat next to each other at President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in December 2024. Ricky Carioti/Reuters

He told students that even though it’s been a while since he’s publicly spoken out, he’s been watching from afar.

“Imagine if I had done any of this. Imagine I had pulled Fox News’ credentials from the White House press corps,” he said, referencing Trump’s recent decision to bar the Associated Press from the press pool for refusing to use the term “Gulf of America.”

He also drew attention to Trump’s efforts to intimidate lawyers.

“Imagine if I had said to law firms that were representing parties that were upset with policies my administration had initiated that you will not be allowed into government buildings,” Obama said. “We will punish you economically for dissenting from the [ACA] or the Iran Deal.”

Trump’s tariffs will be bad for the economy, Obama said, but he’s even more worried about the White House violating Americans’ rights.

“I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” he said.

Obama campaigned for Harris before she lost to Trump in the 2024 election. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

“The idea that a White House can say to law firms, ‘If you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively,‘” Obama continued, “is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”

“Just because (Trump) acts goofy, doesn’t mean his presidency won’t be dangerous,” Obama warned in the lead-up to the election.

Obama played a major role in former President Joe Biden’s campaign before he dropped out of the race. After Biden passed the baton to former Vice President Kamala Harris, Obama appeared with the presidential nominee in Atlanta less than two weeks before the election in October 2024.

During the rally, Obama referenced comments made by former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly, who claimed the president fits “the general definition of fascist.”

Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama left the White House in 2017. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

“We do not need four years of a wannabe king, a wannabe dictator running around trying to punish his enemies,” Obama said in response to Kelly’s remarks. “That’s not what you need in your life. America is ready to turn the page.”

Obama said he understood why Americans wanted change, but said Trump isn’t the answer: “What I can’t understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you. Because there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself.”

Post election, Obama remained fairly quiet about Trump. He has kept a low profile over the last few months but was seen at Trump’s inauguration, which former First Lady Michelle Obama chose not to attend.

Majestic_Electric on April 4th, 2025 at 18:14 UTC »

Imagine if ANY Democratic president did this! Republicans would be writing up impeachment articles as we speak! 😛

innosins on April 4th, 2025 at 18:06 UTC »

He's fucking right. They'd be blowing the damn roof off the place if anyone else was pulling this bullshit.

jtsa5 on April 4th, 2025 at 17:55 UTC »

If anyone else other than Trump did anything wrong it was like the world was ending. When it's Trump everyone has kid gloves on.