Trump Punches Back at Obama During West Virginia Rally

At a West Virginia rally on Friday, President Donald Trump went after his predecessor, Barack Obama, who had criticized Trump’s presidency and character at a Democratic event earlier in the day. “I heard President Obama speak today…I had nothing else to do,” Trump joked. He then blasted Obama for “all [his] lies” about how “you can keep your plan if you like” under the Affordable Care Act, a law that Trump says his administration is chipping away at “strike by strike.” The president also noted that the Senate last year “killed” Obamacare, except for “one Republican,” referring to the late Sen. John McCain, who saved it from so-called skinny repeal. Trump also went after Obama for the previous administration’s war on whistleblowers and press leaks, stating that “nobody was worse to the press than Obama,” who “used the Justice Department to go after reporters.” Trump did not mention how his administration has, as well. In responding to Obama’s suggestion that Trump, as he put it, should be “nice to the fake news,” the sitting president simply said, “No, thank you.”

—Asawin Suebsaeng