Reporter: “What crime are you accusing Obama of?”
Trump: “Obamagate.”
Reporter: “But what is the crime?”
Trump: “You know what it is”
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) May 11, 2020
So Trump basically came up with “Obamagate” and he’s crowdsourcing a scandal to go with it?
— Schooley (@Rschooley) May 11, 2020
But SRSLY:
Why are Trump and Obama in a new spat over Flynn? https://t.co/9vLBd2bpiT
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 11, 2020
… Obama has largely held his tongue about the actions of his successor but on Friday in a call to 3,000 former aides and officials that was leaked to the media, he let loose.
“There is no precedent that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free,” he said. “That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic – not just institutional norms – but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk.”
Trump, who has never been shy about criticising – or blaming – his predecessor, responded with a flurry of social media posts and retweets on Sunday, accusing Obama and his aides of engaging in a criminal effort to undermine his presidency.
He amplified the assertions of right-wing commentators and lashed out at Obama, former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel and numerous reporters and media outlets…
Why did it take off?
The president frequently used the term “Obamagate” – a reference to the Nixon-era Watergate scandal – in connection with his allegations, and prominent conservative activists and Trump-affiliated support groups quickly picked up the hashtag.Although the term predates Trump’s usage, on Sunday it received more than two million tweets – further evidence of the power of the president’s social media platform.
The hashtag had been in use in obscure and fringe right-wing circles for a while, particularly amongst a minority of MAGA and QAnon users, but it never went beyond those small circles.
The new spike in its traffic began early Sunday in the US, and about 86% of that was in the form of retweets, suggesting there was some degree of coordination. But there was no evidence of botnets being involved…
Why pay for professional amplification, when millions of MAGAts and conspiracy theorists will do the job for free?
Trump is right: everyone knows what Obamagate is.
It’s the fact that the FBI & intelligence agencies learned that Putin was attempting to inteferere in the US election to Trump’s benefit, correctly thought Russian interests would try to infiltrate his campaign, investigated…
— Jacob T. Levy (@jtlevy) May 11, 2020
Repub Stupidity Open Thread: ObaMaGAtE Is RAEL!!!Post + Comments (123)