Despite confirmed reports and unproven speculation that President Barack Obama’s administration is doing everything it can to aide President-elect Donald Trump during the transition process, the two men have taken several opportunities to snipe at each other publicly. Yet according to the latter’s appointed press secretary, Sean Spicer, the pair still “speak fairly regularly” about a variety of transition-specific issues.
According to Talking Points Memo, Spicer’s latest revelation about the transition’s inner workings came during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday:
“They continue to talk. I don’t know when the last time they did, but as the inauguration gets closer, both the current President and his team have been very helpful and generous with their time as far as the actual mechanics of the transition have gone, and I expect them to continue to speak fairly regularly.”
The precise nature of Obama and Trump’s ongoing conversations — including their frequency and length — weren’t discussed. Nor did Spicer address his boss’s ongoing Twitter rants against the outgoing president, whose recent remarks on former advisor David Axelrod’s The Axe Files podcast and at the Pearl Harbor memorial site provoked further tweeted ire.
On Monday, Obama suggested Axelrod’s show he would have easily beaten Trump had he campaigned for a third term. The following day, Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered comments for reporters and members of the public gathered at the Pearl Harbor memorial in Hawaii to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack. Many interpreted several of Obama’s remarks as veiled digs at Trump and his incoming administration — including Trump himself.
Hence why the president-elect chose to snipe at Obama repeatedly throughout the week:
President Obama said that he thinks he would have won against me. He should say that but I say NO WAY! – jobs leaving, ISIS, OCare, etc.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2016
President Obama campaigned hard (and personally) in the very important swing states, and lost.The voters wanted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2016
Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks.Thought it was going to be a smooth transition – NOT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 28, 2016
That the Obama administration is trying to implement several so-called “roadblocks” before Trump takes office isn’t a secret. Nevertheless, Spicer claiming the two men are still able to have productive conversations about the coming transition with one another despite all this is intriguing. And weird.
(Via Talking Points Memo)