President Donald Trump accused former President Barack Obama of being behind recent protests and high-profile leaks during an interview with Fox and Friends Monday night.
In a leading question about the demonstrations organized in opposition to his administration and at Republican town hall meetings across the country, Trump suggested it was the work of his predecessor, though he offered no basis or evidence for his judgment.
“No, I think that President Obama’s behind it because his people are certainly behind it,” he said. “And some of the leaks … possibly come from that group … But I also understand that’s politics, and in terms of him being behind things, that’s politics, and it will probably continue.”
Public protests and demonstrations have taken place across the country consistently since Trump took office. The president has made his feelings on the protesters know. He’s publicly asserted that demonstrations have been engineered and manufactured by “paid agitators” and “professional anarchists.”
Most recently, GOP lawmakers have faced rowdy crowds when attending town hall meetings. New grassroots progressive activists, from groups like Indivisible, have been attending to voice their concerns on a range of policy matters—an action that has caused some representatives to cancel or cut short meetings.
Opposition movements like Indivisible have been accused by conservatives of being paid protesters—a label the volunteer activists refute. Indivisible is hyper-local and structured into chapters, which makes their appearances at town hall events an entirely democratic and legitimate means of political participation.
Trump, however, continues to assert his unestablished claim that someone is paying for all these protests. On Fox & Friends, he went one step further by suggesting Obama is operating to undermine him, a claim that borders on conspiracy theory.
“No, I think he is behind it, I also think it’s politics, that’s the way it is,” he repeated in his Fox interview on Monday. “You never know what’s exactly happening behind the scenes. You never know.”
Watch the full clip below:
https://twitter.com/passantino/status/836407670227808261
