Over the last week, President Donald Trump has been forced to deal with the growing scandal linking his administration to Russia. As part of his best effort to deflect from the news, Trump is now putting the blame on former President Barack Obama.
Trump on Obama
Over the last 72 hours, Donald Trump has come down hard on Democrats for accusing him of having ties to Russia. After the Washington Post broke a bombshell story revealing that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had spoke with a Russian official twice during the election, the former host of "The Apprentice" has been on the defensive.
Earlier this week, Trump sent out a series of tweets defending Sessions, while accusing the Democratic Party of engaging in a "witch hunt" against his administration. On Friday, the billionaire real estate mogul called for an investigation into both Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi for their alleged communication with other Russian officials in the past. However, it was on Saturday morning that Trump decided to attack Barack Obama when he claimed, without evidence, that the former president took part in wiretapping at Trump Tower. As reported by The Hill on March 5, the White House is now taking a step further, which was also seen on the president's Twitter account.
White House spokesperson: Trump claim of wiretapping should be part of probe into Trump's ties to Russia https://t.co/PkBFviaIVa pic.twitter.com/EjJ3nl53Fw
— The Hill (@thehill) March 5, 2017
"Who was it that secretly said to Russian President, 'Tell Vladimir that after the election I'll have more flexibility?'" Donald Trump wrote on Twitter early Sunday morning, appearing to elude to Obama's hot mic moment back in 2012 when he was speaking to then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev about Vladimir Putin.
Just hours after Trump's tweet, spokesman for the White House, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, announced that the administration would like Obama's potential ties to Russia to be part of any investigation into the matter.
Who was it that secretly said to Russian President, "Tell Vladimir that after the election I'll have more flexibility?" @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2017
Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared on Sunday's "This Week" on ABC, and doubled down on the call for an Obama investigation.
"Let’s find out. Let’s have an investigation," she said, before adding, "They’re going to investigate Russia ties. Let’s have this as part of it."
Moving forward
In response to the aforementioned call for investigation, a statement was released on Saturday on behalf of Barack Obama that called the allegations against him "simply false." Democrats have also come to the defense of Obama, citing Trump's lack of evidence and reliance on right-wing propaganda media to push his own agenda.
