In a surprising admission on Monday, Donald Trump expressed that he holds a certain level of appreciation and “respect” for former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama.
Ahead of their scheduled speeches at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, Trump referred to Barack Obama as a “nice gentleman” during an interview with CNN. “I think he’s a nice gentleman, but he was very weak on trade. If you look at what happened to our country in terms of trade, it was disastrous,” the GOP leader remarked.
“I happen to like him. I respect him, and I respect his wife,” he continued.
This marks a significant shift in tone from Trump, who has previously been a central figure in promoting the birtherism conspiracy theory that questioned Obama’s eligibility for the presidency. Trump’s long-standing animosity toward Obama was reportedly intensified after the former president publicly mocked him during the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which many speculate motivated Trump’s run for the presidency in 2016.
Trump slams DNC programming as ‘all lies’
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Trump sharply criticized the programming at the Democratic National Convention, dismissing it as a series of “lies.”
Speaking to the *New York Post* ahead of a Michigan event focused on local law enforcement, the former President shifted his attention to the DNC, asserting that it was centered entirely on falsehoods. He also speculated that former President Obama would perpetuate those same “lies” during his keynote speech that evening.
“It was all about lies—lies about me. All night long, they were making statements that simply weren’t true,” Trump remarked.
The DNC is also holding a formal roll call to confirm Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination. She was officially named the party’s presidential nominee earlier this month.
In addition to Barack and Michelle Obama, several prominent Democratic lawmakers are set to speak on the second day of the convention.
Their addresses follow an emotional speech by Joe Biden on Monday, during which he reflected on his political career and symbolically passed the torch to Kamala Harris.