sb.scorecardresearch
Advertisement

Published 11:24 IST, May 14th 2020

'Obamagate!' shouts Trump again and again; blames Obama for 'Russian meddling'

Giving way to what is being touted as a new conspiracy theory, United States President Donald Trump on Thursday tweeted an unfamiliar hashtag '#OBAMAGATE!'

Reported by: Navashree Nandini
Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
Obamagate
null | Image: self
Advertisement

Attempting to force what is being touted as a new 'conspiracy theory', US President Donald Trump on Thursday tweeted an unfamiliar hashtag - '#OBAMAGATE!'. As per reports, Trump is referring to a theory that has been going on within the conservative circles for a while. The theory states that it was former president Barack Obama along with his then-Vice President Joe Biden, former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and a handful of Ukrainian oligarchs, who raised the 'theory' of Russian meddling in 2016 US election. It alleges that the theory was picked by 'deep state' and spying on Trump's circle began. 

READ | Trump on schools: 'We're opening our country'

Trump's OBAMAGATE tweets on Sunday

On Sunday, Trump in a series of tweet said that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who in December 2017 pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators during the course of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the election shows the extent of 'OBAMAGATE.'

Referring to the Watergate scandal in the administration of former President Richard Nixon that led to his resignation, Trump claimed that Obamagate makes it look smaller. The Watergate scandal is related to the Nixon administration's continuous attempts to cover up its involvement in the June 17, 1972 failed break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C. Watergate Office Building. 

READ | Trump calls Fed's Powell 'most improved player'

Incidentally, Trump's 'Obamagate' narrative comes days after the recording of a call between Obama and former members of his administration leaked in which he blamed the current US administration for its incapability to handle the Coronavirus crisis. Obama called it "absolute chaotic disaster" and said that "rule of law is at risk".

READ | Trump presses for schools to reopen, makes dig at Fauci

However, when Trump was asked about his allegations on Monday's press conference, he said: "It's been going on a long time," Trump said. "It's been going on from before I even got elected, and it's a disgrace that it happened, and if you look at what's gone on, and if you look at now, all this information that's being released - and from what I understand, that's only the beginning - some terrible things happened, and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again. You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers. Except yours," he said to a reporter. 

READ | Trump ramps up expulsions of young migrants, citing virus

11:24 IST, May 14th 2020