Trump accuses Obama of 'treason', urges authorities to go after him

US President Donald Trump has accused former president Barack Obama of orchestrating a coup against him, suggesting there should be "severe consequences" and urging authorities to "go after" him.

Speaking alongside Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump responded to a question about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell by shifting the focus to Obama.

"The witch hunt that you should be talking about is that they caught President Obama," he said.

"What they did to this country...starting in 2016 but...going up to 2020...they tried to rig the election, and they got caught, and there should be very severe consequences for that," said Trump.

He also accused Obama of direct involvement, asserting: "Obama's been caught directly...His orders are on the paper. The papers are signed."

Trump suggested that what officials have in hand is more than evidence but "irrefutable proof that Obama was seditious, that Obama...was trying to lead a coup."

He claimed that Obama, along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former president Joe Biden, was behind a criminal operation and Obama was the "ring leader."

"What they did in 2016 and 2020 is criminal at the highest level," he added.

"They tried to steal the election. They tried to obfuscate the election. They did things that nobody's ever even imagined, even in other countries," he said.

'Weak attempt at distraction'

Obama's office released a statement to rebuke the White House for the "bizarre" and "outrageous" claims.

"Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction," it said.

Obama rejected allegations from the Trump administration that he manipulated intelligence assessments about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard released a report last Friday outlining alleged election fraud and accused the officials involved of participating in a "treasonous conspiracy."

"Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes. These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio," the statement from Obama's office said.

Obama has long been a target of Trump. In 2011, he accused then-President Obama of not being born in the United States, prompting Obama to release a copy of his birth certificate.

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Source: TRT