It didn’t take Barack Obama long at all to weigh in against a policy pronouncement by his presidential successor, Donald Trump.
“The President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion,” said the former president’s spokesman, Kevin Lewis.
I’m going to take another gulp of air now and say this: I wish the former president would have stayed quiet on this one … for two reasons.
First,Ā it should surprise no one that the ex-president opposes Trump’s idioticĀ refugee ban targeting those coming to the United States from Muslim-majority nations. President Obama made that point abundantly clear during his two terms in office, that the United States must not discriminate against anyone because of their religion as we fight this war against international terrorism.
The second reason is that I continue to endorse the George W./George H.W. Bush view of former presidents criticizing their successors. Bush 43 was essentially quiet during the Obama presidency; Bush 41 also kept quiet during the two terms of Bill Clinton’s presidency. They both adhered to the same principle: We had our time in the arena; that time is up and the men who followed them are entitled to conduct foreign and domestic policy without being sniped at by their predecessor.
Indeed, I was critical former Vice President Dick Cheney’s continual carping about Obama’s conduct of the office.
https://highplainsblogger.com/2014/05/button-it-up-mr-vp/
Don’t misunderstand me. I endorse Barack Obama’s opinion of Trump’s ban on refugees. It was poorly conceived and even more poorly executed. Several state attorneys general have filed lawsuits challenging its constitutionality.
However, Barack Obama need tell us what we already know about what he thinks about a particular Trump policy.