Democrats are urging former President Obama to stay out of the fray as Trump officials release documents accusing his administration of trying to “rig” the 2016 election.
They want him to steer clear of public sparring with President Trump, especially as Republicans remain divided over the Epstein files and Democrats stay on offense, WJBF reported.
Insiders within the party claim that appearances, such as Tulsi Gabbard’s at Wednesday’s White House briefing, aim to mislead the public.
“No matter how much Trump and Fox are trying to drag it up, the base is still tearing them apart on the Epstein documents, so no need to interrupt them punching themselves in the face,” said Democratic strategist Eddie Vale.
In interviews on Wednesday, Democratic operatives—including some who worked for Obama—said the former president should maintain his distance and not elevate Trump’s attacks.
They praised Obama’s silence even as Trump accused him of treason.
“I think his approach was fine. Clearly lay out the inconsistencies, redirect people to what Trump is trying to distract from,” one Democratic strategist said. “Trying to counter-message Donald Trump is like trying to follow a drunk driver home. The only way is to just survive.”
In other words, Obama’s goal now is to run out the clock on the Trump presidency while avoiding accountability — at least in the eyes of Trump and his supporters.
Gabbard on Friday released a trove of documents she claims prove the Obama administration fabricated the Russia interference narrative in 2016.
Trump quickly seized on the release.
“Look, he’s guilty. It’s not a question. You know, I like to say, ‘Let’s give it time.’ It’s there. He’s guilty,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “This was treason, this was every word you can think of.”
Since leaving office, Obama has largely avoided direct responses to Trump, reportedly believing it would be beneath the dignity of the presidency.
But this week, he made an exception.
“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,” Obama said in a rare statement. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction. 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.”
Democrats zeroed in on the tone of Obama’s statement — calm, measured, and with a subtle jab at Rubio, now Trump’s Secretary of State.
“While they generally ignore the day-to-day, it was smart I think to put out that statement to show how dumb it is, especially with the fun knife twist reminder of Rubio agreeing with them,” Vale said.
But they insist the real goal is to stay focused and not get sucked into Trump’s narrative.
“They’re not letting Trump pretend this is about anything other than distracting people from his Epstein files broken promise and trying to shore up tanking approval ratings,” said David Litt, a former Obama speechwriter.
Democrats believe the Epstein issue is Trump’s Achilles’ heel — a topic even his base won’t ignore.
“Epstein is the kryptonite to Trump’s superpower of distraction,” Vale said.
“He has been recycling through all the usual hits of, ‘Blame the media,’ ‘Blame Obama.’ And while Fox News is dutifully reporting them, his voters … and a lot of House Republicans are all seeing right through it and continuing to demand Trump release the files.”