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In an extraordinary statement against a former president, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Barack Obama to “keep your mouth shut” over criticism of Donald Trump, calling him “classless.”
Speaking to alumni of his administration, Obama said he was concerned about the “rule of law,” in light of the justice department’s decision to drop his case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. That is the central theme of Trump’s attempts to unleash an “Obamagate” scandal, which he again claimed Tuesday morning “makes Watergate seem short!”
Obama also said that the response to the coronavirus pandemic had been “an absolute chaotic disaster.”
McConnell was speaking to Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, at an online fundraiser Monday night.
When asked about Obama “criticizing” the administration for its response to the coronavirus outbreak, he said: “I think President Obama should have kept his mouth shut.
“You know, we know that he doesn’t really like what this administration is doing. That’s understandable. But I think it’s a bit classless to frankly criticize an administration that comes after you.”
He added: “You had your chance. You were there for eight years. I think the tradition established by the Bushes of not criticizing the president who comes after you is a good tradition. “
There is a tradition of former presidents who do not comment on or attack their successors in the Oval Office, but Trump is not part of the informal club that currently includes Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter, and has regularly attacked those who were before him.
In addition, Obama’s views on Trump are well known, generally by indirect routes and leaks to the press. For example, in a Hulu documentary on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign against Trump, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine is seen to say that the then-President believes Trump is a fascist.
In leaked comments to Yahoo News, Obama said he would launch Joe Biden’s campaign this fall to help him try to overthrow Trump and make him a one-term president. Biden leads Trump in key states and national polls, and McConnell also chairs a Senate majority that now seems increasingly at risk as Republican popularity declines.
