US Former President Barack Obama has attacked recent actions by US President Donald Trump, stating he was concerned that the cornerstone of American values is under threat of being undermined and condemning what he describes as a potentially catastrophic silence on the part of the Republican president.
“It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me or a whole bunch of my predecessors,” Obama said, condemning the administration’s decision to restrict Associated Press access after the agency refused to adopt Trump’s push to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
“Imagine if I had pulled Fox News’ credentials from the White House press corps,” he added. “I say this not on a partisan basis. This has to do with something more precious, which is who are we as a country and what values do we stand for?”
Obama made the remarks during a discussion with Hamilton College President, Steven Tepper, where he complained about what he termed as unsettling trends under Trump’s presidency.
Obama also urged ordinary Americans, colleges, and law firms to be prepared to “possibly sacrifice” in defence of democratic principles — setting the stage for a broader call to action.
“It is up to all of us to fix this,” Obama said, adding that his call was for “the citizen, the ordinary person who says, ‘No, that’s not right.’”
While he disagreed with Trump’s sweeping new tariffs, Obama expressed greater concern over the administration’s threats to cut federal funding to universities that refuse to drop diversity programs or enforce controversial protest guidelines.
“I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy,” Obama said.
“I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” he added.
He urged schools and students to scrutinize whether they had genuinely broken any rules or were merely being bullied: “If not, and you’re just being intimidated, well, you should be able to say, ‘That’s why we got this big endowment.’”
The former President faulted the White House for revoking The Associated Press’s credentials after the news agency declined to use the term “Gulf of America,” following Trump’s directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama went on to express that he is “deeply concerned” by steps taken by the White House from its crackdown on student protesters and colleges to its pressure on law firms and the media — arguing that such behaviour would never have been tolerated from any of his predecessors.
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