Former President Barack Obama came out swinging at the Trump administration on Sunday, with a lengthy tweet admonishing the federal government for targeting Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar and bringing its “full weight” down on her just because she’s a fierce critic of President Donald Trump.
“It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say,” Obama wrote. “But that’s exactly what the Trump Administration is doing to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.”
Trump has already crossed that particular line several times over, with arguably the most obvious example being his attempts at denying due process to Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after the Trump administration accused the pro-Palestine demonstrator of being a “Hamas supporter” while presenting zero evidence to substantiate the claim, and essentially admitting he hadn’t actually committed a crime.
Anyway, Obama went on to lay out the specifics regarding what the administration is basing its absurd investigation on.
“Now the Administration is actively trying to deport Congresswoman Omar, seemingly based solely on the unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized, and therefore is not a citizen,” he wrote. “Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case.
“Think about that. The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president. And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies — from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve,” he continued, referring to Trump’s failed attempts at weaponizing lawfare against New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, cases that Obama correctly noted went nowhere because “the prosecutions either stalled or were dismissed for having no basis in law.” He also noted that the investigation against Omar will probably go the same way, but not before her life got turned upside down.
It’s interesting that Trump obsessively attacks “Barack HUSSEIN Obama” every chance he gets, and, for the most part, Obama just ignores him and continues to enjoy the free timeshare in Trump’s head that he apparently splits with former President Joe Biden. Obama was even gracious enough not to mention the administration’s failed attempt to prosecute him among the failed cases he mentioned involving James, Comey, and Powell.
In fact, if I had one criticism of Obama’s tweet, it’s that it seems to intentionally stop short of calling out Trump’s racism.
As I noted previously, the effort to deport Omar is a thing racist Republicans have spent years calling for, despite the fact that she’s been a naturalized U.S. citizen for 26 years, and the glaring lack of evidence that Omar is in the country unlawfully. Beyond that, Trump has attacked the entire Somali nationality as “low-IQ” numerous times, and he has insisted multiple times that Omar has no right to criticize him simply because she’s “from Somalia.”
Trump’s racism is as loud and obvious as it was when he was leading the “birther” movement against Obama for all eight years that he was in office. Why is it so hard for Obama, who is no longer an elected official and is not running for any office currently, to call a spade a spade and an orangey-white nationalist bigot an orangey-white nationalist bigot?
Again, that’s my only criticism. Other than that, no notes.
“The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views,” Obama concluded. “Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.”
It’s not just other lawmakers who are vulnerable; it’s anyone who dares to be publicly critical of the president who can be affected by normalizing this level of fascism. Trump supporters are simply too racist and xenophobic to see the forest for the trees.
They aren’t patriots, and as much as I joke about them being cultists, they’re not even that. MAGA is largely comprised of white supremacists, who will at least pretend to be happy so long as their president strives to make white supremacy great again.
Sad.
SEE ALSO:
Feds Raid Home Of Rep. Ilhan Omar Claiming Immigration Fraud
ICE Investigators Seize Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Phone, Subpoena Relatives
