WarSclerotic

Obama ditching promise of “smooth” transition to Trump, Washington Times, December 18, 2016

President Barack Obama pauses during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Obama is dishing out a much rockier transfer of power to Donald Trump than he received from his predecessor eight years ago, from accusing the president-elect of being aided by Russian hackers, to first lady Michelle Obama complaining that the nation has lost hope.

Despite pledging a “smooth and efficient” transition on the day after Mr. Trump’s victory, Mr. Obama has presided over an increasingly acrimonious war of words between the White House and the president-elect’s team.

The awkward hand-off of the baton stands in stark contrast to the cooperative atmosphere fostered by Republican George W. Bush’s White House in 2008 when Mr. Obama was preparing to take office, an example of unity that Obama advisers still talk about.

“Earnest seems to want to delegitimize the election,” said Republican strategist John Feehery. “It’s very dangerous and seemingly counter to the wishes of the president.”

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod went further, saying it was “highly unlikely” that the White House press secretary would take a week’s worth of verbal shots at Mr. Trump without the president’s approval.

At his year-end press conference on Friday, Mr. Obama said Mr. Trump should accept the findings of the CIA and FBI that Russia was aiding the Republican’s campaign by hacking Democratic officials’ emails and publicizing them.

“My hope is that the president-elect is going to similarly be concerned with making sure we don’t have potential foreign influence in our election process,” Mr. Obama said.

Compounding the rising tensions, Mrs. Obama said of Mr. Trump’s victory, “We’re feeling what not having hope feels like.”

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired Friday, Mrs. Obama said of her husband’s departure that Americans “will come to appreciate having a grown-up in the White House.”

“What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?” she said. “What do we do if we don’t have hope, Oprah?”

Her comments prompted conservative Los Angeles radio host Larry Elder to respond on Twitter, “Imagine the outcry had [first lady] Laura Bush said, as Michelle Obama did, about the new president, ‘Now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like.’”

This entry was posted on December 18, 2016 at 9:29 PM and is filed under Obama and Trump, President Elect Trump, Trump transition. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Obama and Trump, President Elect Trump, Trump transition