Barack Obama has broken his silence after Donald Trump accused him of leading a “coup” and committing “treason” following the 2016 election.
Trump claimed Obama tried to “manufacture” evidence of Russian interference to undermine his win over Hillary Clinton.
In a rare and forceful response, Obama’s office rejected the accusations outright.
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” the statement said.
“But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
The statement also dismissed an 11-page document released last week by Tulsi Gabbard, who alleged a “treasonous conspiracy” among Obama officials and called for their prosecution.
“Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,” it said.
“These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.”
Trump made his claims while meeting Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Asked who should be prosecuted based on Gabbard’s report, Trump said: “It would be President Obama. He started it … the leader of the gang was President Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him?”
He added: “This isn’t like evidence. This is like proof, irrefutable proof that Obama was sedatious [sic] … He’s guilty. This was treason.”
Trump also said Gabbard had “thousands of additional documents coming” and urged people to focus on her claims instead of other issues, like the Epstein files.
Fulton Armstrong, a former CIA analyst, said the paper “was obviously written with a pre-ordained conclusion.”
He added: “The bigger problem is that Tulsi’s paper is such shit. Her reference to ‘deep state officials’ is amateurish, silly, and undercuts the whole damned document.”