Trump Says Obama “Had To Know About” Alleged Effort To Keep Him Out Of Office

In an interview with ABC last week, President Donald Trump said that there was a campaign to prevent him from becoming president and that former President Barack Obama must have been in on it.

While talking to George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week, the president asserted that there had been a dedicated effort among the FBI and among previous government officials to harm Trump’s image and keep him out of the Oval Office. He also claimed that the investigation of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller exonerated him from any crimes, even though Mueller had explicitly stated that that was not the case. “There was no crime. There was no collusion. The big thing’s collusion. Now there’s no collusion. That means they set — it was a setup, in my opinion, and I think it’s gonna come out,” ranted the president.

In response, Stephanopoulos asked, “You clearly believe there was a group of people working against you. Do you think President Obama was behind it?”

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“I would say that he certainly must have known about it because it went very high up in the chain, but you’re gonna find that out. I’m not gonna make that statement quite yet, but I would say that President Obama had to know about it,” Trump replied. He then offered up texts between FBI officials disparaging Trump as evidence that the agencies investigation into him was biased from the start. The president’s remarks here echoed much of the rhetoric that he has continued to employ throughout his tenure in the White House, attempting to delegitimize the many probes that are looking into him and his campaign. He has repeatedly labeled the investigations into him as “witch hunts,” and has brought up conspiracy theories in order to detract from the seriousness of the inquiries.

When asked by Stephanopoulos whether he believed that Obama had spied on his campaign, the president replied, “I don’t know. But hopefully we’re gonna find out.”