Barack Obama Takes Subtle Jabs At Trump For Lack Of U.S. Leadership In Paris Accord, Defends Michelle
In two different occasions, former U.S. President Barack Obama took subtle jabs at the actions demonstrated by the current administration led by Donald Trump, without directly naming him in his speeches, on the use of social media and America’s commitment to climate change.
People are associating his wise move to the 1992 flick Far and Away which immortalized the line, “There’s no need to state the obvious, boy.”
According to Reuters, Barack Obama lamented the lack of U.S. leadership in the fight against climate change during a visit to Paris on Saturday, after his Republican successor announced U.S. withdrawal from the landmark global deal in June.
Poking fun at the absurd situation he was in, Obama drew his French audience into laughter, saying, “I grant you that at the moment we have a temporary absence of American leadership on the issue.”
Despite the lack of support from the Trump administration, the former president guaranteed that various American states, cities, and private business sectors pledged their support to the worldwide initiative countering the effects of climate change.
Prior to his Paris engagement, Obama attended a leadership conference on Friday in New Delhi where he spoke about various topics, which also included America’s commitment to climate change. This time he particularly talked about the responsible use of social media and being mindful of the kind of message being shared on the platform.
During the panel discussion, he was asked to say something about Michelle Obama’s comments this week during a speech in Toronto, when she said it was not a good idea to “tweet from bed,” an obvious commentary on Trump’s early morning Twitter habit, Washington Post reported.
In defense of his wife, Obama said, “Michelle was giving the general idea… Don’t say the first thing that pops in your head. Have a little bit of an edit function.
“Think before you speak, think before you tweet.”
On the topics of climate change, he has already hinted his dismay over the United States’ disappointing move to rebuke the Paris accord, saying, “We have a little bit of a pause in American leadership.”
“I can have a debate with someone about climate change and about what we need to do, but if you call climate change a hoax, I don’t know what to do with that,” Obama closed the topic.
Meanwhile, this remark surely raised eyebrows in the Republican camp where their leader, Donald Trump, claimed that climate change is a hoax caused by China.
