Former President Obama lashed out at his successor at private fundraisers and events throughout both the 2016 campaign and former President Trump‘s term in office, according to excerpts from a new book shared with The Guardian.
The reported cutting remarks from Obama are detailed in Atlantic staff writer Edward Isaac-Dovere’s forthcoming book entitled “Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats’ Campaigns to Defeat Donald Trump.”
According to the author, Obama tore into Trump numerous times when speaking to advisers and donors at various events.
The former president frequently slammed his successor over numerous issues, including telling donors that Trump was a “madman” after 2017 when he took office.
“I didn’t think we’d have a racist, sexist pig,” Obama told one group. He also referred to Trump as “that f—ing lunatic” and a “corrupt motherf—er,” according to Dovere.
The reported comments stand in stark contrast to the reserved, tight-lipped public demeanor that Obama displayed following the 2016 election. It is customary for former presidents not to publicly criticize their successor, specifically in the early stages of a new president’s term.
The news follows reporting by The New York Times, which revealed that the 44th president had told supporters at an event that Trump was engaging in “nativist, racist, sexist” rhetoric.
“What he has unleashed and what he continues to try to tap into is the fears and anger and resentment of people who, in some cases, really are having a tough time and have seen their prospects, or communities where they left, declining. And Trump tries to tap into that and redirect in nativist, racist, sexist ways,” Obama reportedly said in July.
Around the same time, Trump’s former personal attorney said in his own book that Trump had made racist comments to him about Obama as well as the late South African leader and civil rights icon Nelson Mandela.
