"Obamagate", the new fable by Donald Trump

Text by: Anne Corpet Follow

For almost a week, Donald Trump has been talking about a mysterious plot he called "Obamagate", in reference to the Watergate scandal that caused the loss of Richard Nixon. According to him, it is "the biggest scandal in American history". What are these serious accusations based on? 

Publicity

From our correspondent in Washington,

Asked Tuesday May 12 about the facts he blames his predecessor, Donald Trump simply replied: "  It is an obvious crime, everyone knows  ." Without further details. But he never ceases to mention the unprecedented scale of the scandal. In reality, the President is unlikely to give details of his accusations. In any case, no crime was found. The general idea that the president is agitating, with the reinforcement of his allies, is that Barack Obama organized a conspiracy to sabotage his arrival at the White House.

Donald Trump started talking about this theory last Sunday, Mother's Day, after the Justice Department asked for the charges against General Michael Flynn to be lifted . National security advisor for less than a month in early 2017, he is accused of lying to the FBI about his meetings with the Russian ambassador during the transition period. He himself admitted the facts several times and under oath, before changing lawyers and denouncing an abusive FBI investigation.

A federal judge is due to rule soon on this request to drop the charges against him, and nothing says that the magistrate will align himself with the wishes of the ministry. But Donald Trump did not wait for his decision, and jumped at the chance to cry conspiracy. The president, who himself sacked General Flynn, now presents him as a martyr, and at the same time attempts to completely reverse the tale of the saga of Russian interference in his campaign.

A conspiracy theory carefully relayed

Since the beginning of the week, Fox News has spent long hours on the air in this so-called scandal and has been firing everything. The conservative television channel presents for example the request for lifting of the anonymity of Michael Flynn made by 39 members of the Obama administration - including Joe Biden - in December 2016 as proof of this plot, when it comes in reality a routine procedure: senior officials of the administration regularly claim the identity of persons cited in the reports of the police and intelligence services, especially when it comes to possible cases of espionage.

The message hammered relentlessly against a backdrop of very muddled justifications is made up of two statements: Obama is a criminal, Donald Trump is the target of machinations. For its part, the president regularly pours fuel on the fire. He estimated Thursday morning that Democratic candidate Joe Biden, ex-FBI director James Comey, and other Obama administration officials deserved to be jailed "  I'm talking about 50 years in prison,  " said he said in an interview with Fox Business News.

Later, on his Twitter feed, the president invited Congress to summon Barack Obama to ask for an explanation. But many republican elected officials, yet inclined to relay his accusations, did not follow him on this ground. Lucid about the potentially disastrous result of such an operation for the majority camp, Senator Lindsey Graham, close to Donald Trump, considered that summoning the former president to Congress was "  a bad idea  ". 

If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!

A diversionary maneuver

By peddling the thesis of a plot hatched against him by the previous administration, and calling it "  the most serious crime in the modern history of the country  ", the president tries to put the terrible toll of the country in the background pandemic in progress. More than 86,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the United States, and the management of the administration is seriously questioned.

The tactic of diversion is commonly used by Donald Trump when he is in trouble or when his action is criticized. At the same time, the president feeds the ferocious hatred that a certain fringe of his electoral base, in particular on the extreme right, devoted to Barack Obama. The slogan "  OBAMAGATE  " written almost fifteen times in capital letters on the President's Twitter thread sounds like a rallying cry for these Donald Trump fans. It consolidates them in the idea of ​​a vast plot carried out by the Washington elites against their camp, and stimulates them, mobilizes them, at a time when they are deprived of meetings and public events to celebrate their president. 

OBAMAGATE!

Donald Trump is not at his first conspiracy theory. Long before running for the White House, he had widely relayed rumors that questioned the birthplace of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, a way to question his legitimacy to rule the country.

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• United States
• Donald trump
• Barack Obama