“I think he’s a nice gentleman, but he was very weak on trade. If you take a look at what happened to our country trade-wise, it was a disaster,” Trump remarked.Despite his criticism of Obama’s trade policies, Trump emphasized his personal respect, stating, “I happen to like him. I respect him and I respect his wife.”
Trump’s comments come in stark contrast to his earlier stance, where he fueled birtherism conspiracy theories against Obama and cited Obama’s mockery at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner as a catalyst for his own presidential ambitions.
Trump criticizes DNC programming as ‘all lies’
On the same day, Trump denounced the Democratic National Convention (DNC) programming as “lies”, as quoted by the New York Post. He criticized the DNC’s coverage, predicting that Obama would continue to propagate the same misinformation during his keynote address.
“I think it was about lies. It was lies about me, all night long they were saying things that weren’t true,” Trump stated. His remarks were made in the context of a broader criticism of the convention’s content, which includes a formal roll call to affirm Vice President Kamala Harris’s nomination as the party’s presidential candidate.
The DNC’s second day will feature speeches from Obama and Michelle, alongside other prominent Democratic lawmakers. Their addresses follow President Joe Biden’s emotional speech on Monday, where he reflected on his political career and endorsed Harris as his successor.