I’m just fine with him speaking out. For many Americans, he’s been a father figure and it’s comforting to hear from him in such a volatile time.
It undermines the Office of Presidency. Ronald Reagan was my favorite president, and their are times that I would have loved to hear what he thought about what was going on in the country.
However, I always felt (even as a child) that a former President must keep his criticism of the current President private. He can share it privately with people, but must not express it publicly.
Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton, & esp George W. Bush were all great, recent examples of this.
George Washington was also a great example, as when his 2nd term was up, he retired.
And even though John Adams & Thomas Jefferson were political enemies, they kept quiet about their successors, even in their old age as they wrote each other letters. They would address the changes they didn’t like to eachother, but didn’t express them publicly to the American public.
George W. Bush talked about this once in Japan, where former Presidents become part of a senior group of legislators or council or something. The President’s job is very difficult as it is, Presidents don’t need former Presidents casting grenades.
NOTE: I would have been appalled if George W. Bush did that to Obama. And if Hillary won, I would have been appalled if any former President did it to her.
It would be no different than if a abdicated King of a nation spoke in dissent against a current king, or if Pope Benedict XVI spoke out in dissent against Pope Francis.
It can’t happen because it hurts the Office of the Presidency.
There are plenty of opposition to Trump, out of respect for the Office of the Presidency, Obama doesn’t have to weigh in. By duing so, he actually hurts the Presidency of future Presidents.
God Bless
