President Donald Trump tried once again to drag Barack Obama into scandal territory by boosting a call for criminal charges — only to spark confusion as critics wondered how Trump could make the demand while overlooking something so obvious it stopped the conversation cold.
Trump shared a screenshot from a pro-Trump account urging Attorney General Pam Bondi to bring charges against Obama, framing the demand as mandatory rather than rhetorical.
“So, @AGPamBondi — you have the evidence from @DNIGabbard regarding the 2020 election. The people demand acountability and @BarackObama should be charged and prosecuted,” the post read. “Mind you, this isn’t a request.”
By reposting it, Trump elevated a call for the criminal prosecution of a former president — an extraordinary request even by his own standards.
Trump paired the screenshot with a Fox News clip featuring Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, stamped “BREAKING NEWS,” asserting that the “Russia Hoax was blatant.” The post echoed Trump’s decade-long effort to recast investigations into his 2016 campaign as criminal conspiracies, while increasingly normalizing rhetoric that treats political rivals as targets for prosecution.
The timing landed with an uncomfortable irony. Trump’s renewed push came in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling that issued sweeping immunity for official acts — a decision Trump himself has repeatedly celebrated as a personal legal shield.
But In pressing for Obama’s prosecution, Trump appeared to barrel past the very precedent he had embraced — a contradiction so basic that critics said it felt like something being forgotten in real time.
Earlier this year, Trump’s random grumblings ensnared Gabbard, who stood at a podium and falsely accused Obama of orchestrating a “years-long coup” to undermine Trump’s 2016 victory, releasing declassified emails she claimed revealed a “treasonous conspiracy” tied to the 2016 Russian election interference probe.
Days later, Trump accused Obama of “treason.” The allegations went nowhere, but Trump leaned into the tactic, reviving a manufactured controversy critics say he used to drown out scandals of his own.
In response, the Justice Department established a new “Strike Force” to examine her claims and weigh potential legal action, however, no further developments have been announced to indicate the case is moving forward.
As Gabbard’s allegations stalled, Trump pointed to the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling as evidence that Obama had escaped accountability.
“He owes me, Obama owes me big,” Trump said in July effectively conceding that the legal framework he fought for blocks the very prosecution he is again demanding.
The contradiction did not go unnoticed with critics online.
One MSN reader observed, “His irrational hatred of Obama must be adversely affecting his already bad health. No insane amount of envy & jealousy will change the facts: Obama is way more intelligent, articulate & educated; he’s respected & liked, stylish, charming & good looking. He’s not a felon or a pea dough file. No scandals & a far more solid family. Drumpf wishes to destroy all of that but he’s powerless to bring Obama down to his level of slime.”
“Who wants to tell the Dementia patient in the White House that he gave PRESIDENT Obama TOTAL immunity from prosecution when he convinced the right wing activist Supreme Court to rule in his favor,” one voice clamored on MSN.
Another reader focused on motive rather than law, “WHY is Trump jawing about Obama? Because Trump’s DOJ released 1,000,000 Epstein-related documents on Friday, and Trump is DESPERATE to distract attention!”
Others framed the episode as obsession.
One reader wrote, “Obama lives in Trump’s head so bad. Trump just does not want to be the one with a criminal record and is looking for anyone to charge to make himself look better … Trump can’t admit Obama was and is a better person than Trump.”
“Trump is so obsessed over the huge successes of Obama, that a decade later he can’t give it up. How pathetic!”
The president’s outburst marked his latest effort to find a way around the law in hopes of piercing the Supreme Court immunity that shields Obama.
In November, Trump resurrected his long-debunked “birther” conspiracy, falsely claiming Obama was not born in the United States. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1961, and his birth certificate confirms it.
Meanwhile, legal experts broadly agree that Donald Trump is unlikely to face criminal prosecution after leaving office, despite conduct during his second term that pushed legal and constitutional boundaries further than ever before.
The Supreme Court immunity ruling has effectively insulated Trump — and former and future presidents — from criminal liability tied to core executive functions.
The ruling has especially reshaped how Trump wields power in office, granting him “absolute immunity” for directing Justice Department investigations and prosecutions against perceived enemies while shielding himself from accountability.
One narrow area of potential exposure — Trump’s family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial — remains legally uncertain but unlikely to result in charges, according to an analysis by The New York Times. Even there, experts say prosecutors would face steep hurdles proving conduct fell outside Trump’s official duties.
