Barack Obama has taken a swipe at President Trump by listing several of his overreaches without ever naming him.
The former president was speaking to outgoing The Late Show host Stephen Colbert inside his new Presidential Center in Chicago, where he was asked about the accumulation of presidential powers, and which ones he would like to see checked.
“There’s often a conversation about the restriction or a need to restrict certain executive powers,” Colbert began. “Now that you’re no longer in office, what powers do you believe the president should not have?”
“There are a couple that I followed even though they weren’t law,” Obama replied, pointing out that generally, presidents stick to norms, but now that many have been overridden, preventative legislation might be needed. “And we’re going to have to do some work to return to this basic norm, and we probably now have to codify it.
“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever the president wants to prosecute.”
Since his return to power, Trump has wielded the U.S. justice system like a weapon for his own retribution, demanding that his officials prosecute his political enemies.
Ousted former Attorney General Pam Bondi was tasked with going after several people who had gone against Trump, like Rep. Adam Schiff, who led the effort to impeach him in his first term.
The list is sprawling but also includes people like former FBI Director James Comey, who led the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump has made no secret of his penchant for lawfare, writing on Truth Social at one point, “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially, ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.”
“Leticia” was a reference to New York Attorney General Leticia James, who has a history of clashes with Trump, and previously said, “He should know that we here in New York—and I, in particular—we are not scared of you.”
“The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer,” Obama continued. “It’s not the president’s consigliere.”
He added, “We can’t overcome the politicization of the criminal justice system, the awesome power of the state. You can’t have a situation in which whoever’s in charge of the government starts using that to go after their political enemies or reward their friends, right?”
Obama fired off another quick dig, adding, “maybe don’t pardon people who’ve given you a bunch of campaign contributions, or invest in your businesses.”
Trump has raised eyebrows with many of the 1,600 people he has pardoned in his second term, and in April was reported by The Wall Street Journal to be “repeatedly” talking about sweeping pardons for all his White House goons.
“I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the Oval,” sources speaking to the Journal claim he said.
“Second thing is the military,” Obama continued. “Don’t politicize our military. As president, you are commander-in-chief; you are responsible for directing our military, but there had been a whole series of norms that were in place to ensure that you weren’t trying to make that military loyal to you as opposed to the Constitution and the people of the United States. We’re going to have to find mechanisms to restore that.
“And then, a good policy that I’d like to see followed is that the president of the United States shouldn’t have a bunch of side hustles that companies and foreign entities can invest in.”
“I thought this was a pretty obvious principle,” he added.
In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said, “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and is booting him off the airwaves.”
Moments later, Colbert, 61, set Obama, 64, up for another subtle dig at the 79-year-old president.
Colbert’s show comes to an end on May 21, and has been going down swinging, taking aim at Trump and his administration at every opportunity.
“I’m looking for a new gig soon,” Colbert said, “and a lot of people tell me I should run for president.”
He then checked “how dumb” Obama thought that idea was.
“Well, you know, the bar has changed,” Obama responded.
“Let me put it this way,” Obama said. “I think that you could perform significantly better than some folks that we’ve seen.”
Obama has appeared three times on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report and twice on CBS’s Late Show, but the timing of this interview, during the swansong of his 11-year stint at the show, is significant.
This appearance comes after Colbert lost his job at CBS for criticizing the parent company, Paramount, when it settled a lawsuit with Trump.
Trump, however, has been boisterous about Colbert’s departure.
“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired,” he wrote on Truth Social in July. “His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”
