Whoa, wait. Did Donald Trump just praise the Obamas? Hell must have frozen over!
On the second night of the Democratic National Convention, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama returned to their home turf of Chicago as scheduled speakers, showing their support for Kamala Harris.
Before the event, CNN’s Kristen Holmes caught up with Trump while he was campaigning in Michigan. She asked him about Barack Obama’s upcoming speech.
“I respect him and I respect his wife” — oddly soft comments from Trump to CNN today on Obama, who he viciously defamed to fuel his political rise pic.twitter.com/7ExpvrJNVt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 20, 2024
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Here is the entirety of the question followed by commentary by the panel.
I like him, I think he’s a nice gentleman… I happen to like him. I respect him and I respect his wife.
Amid his usual criticism, Trump unexpectedly complimented the Obamas. However, he quickly shifted back to disagreeing with Obama’s approach to trade—a topic Trump often highlights, despite lacking a clear and consistent policy himself. Holmes didn’t seem too concerned with this trade critique, instead noting that Trump’s praise stood out sharply from his previous rhetoric about Obama.
Holmes recalled Trump’s long history of promoting the false claim that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. and was, therefore, ineligible to be president. She also touched on the period when Trump accused Obama of spying on him.
She confirmed that this was a complete change in tone:
We have never really heard, at least in modern times, him say that he has some kind of level of respect, for him, and his wife but clearly, he is shifting his tune today.
CNN’s political commentators picked up from there, with Chief National Correspondent John King pointing out that Trump’s sudden change in tone likely stems from advice he’s getting from his political advisors, as polls show him losing ground.
Another commentator, Ashley Allison, joined the conversation, humorously flipping Michelle Obama’s famous phrase against Trump: “When they go low, we go high,” before adding, “Well, he actually sounds high right now, if we’re being honest.”
When someone jokingly accused her of being mean, she doubled down:
… Donald Trump does not respect Barack Obama; he does not respect Michelle Obama. I’m not even sure he knows what respect is and if he does, I don’t want that kind of respect.
Jamie Gangel agreed with King saying that he has a list of insults and he’s changing his tone because he’s losing supporters.
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