Sen. Lindsey Graham pushed back Friday against former President Obama’s criticism of the Trump administration, saying that if Mr. Obama wants Mr. Trump to win a second term, the Illinois Democrat should keep reminding voters about his time in the White House.
“The more former President Obama speaks about the ’good ol years’ of his presidency, the more likely President Trump is to get re-elected,” the South Carolina Republican tweeted after an Obama speech Friday blasting the president. “In fact, the best explanation of President Trump’s victory are the ’results’ of the Obama Presidency!”
Mr. Obama took aim at the president in a speech at the University of Illinois, telling students that this is the most important election of his lifetime and urging them to vote against the powerful and privileged that are trying to divide Americans and make them cynical of the government in order protect the status quo.
“It did not start with Donald Trump,” Mr. Obama said. “He is a symptom, not the cause. He’s just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years, a fear and anger that’s rooted in our past but it’s also born out of the enormous upheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes.”
Mr. Graham released a statement a few hours later that said Mr. Obama’s message is muddied by his lackluster record.
“The Obama years were dominated by higher taxes, slower growth, big government, a broken military, and a pathetically weak foreign policy,” Mr. Graham said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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