Barack Obama has been making appearances as we come down the stretch in the elections.
But for someone who has such a high opinion of himself, it's turned out to be an embarrassing turn on a few different levels.
As we reported, he came out to support Democrat candidates like Abdul El-Sayed for the Senate race in Michigan, saying how important his healthcare message was. But then that just reminded everyone how much Obama had screwed up healthcare. Why would we want to go down that road again with the even worse version that El-Sayed wanted to foist on us?
Then, too, Obama blundered with his Cheesecake Factory joke, reinforcing to everyone what a snotty elitist he was while trying to slam President Donald Trump's renovations at the White House. It also reminded people of the monstrosity that he himself was responsible for — his presidential center in Chicago that, in the words of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, "looked like Darth Vader's tomb."
While he was poking his head out of his elitist bubble on the other matters, Obama also managed to stick his nose into the big news of the multiple investigations going on into Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05). There appear to be a variety of different things the feds are looking into, and they even raided her D.C. home on Oct. 12. Reports indicate they are looking into immigration and financial disclosure questions. So you would think prudence would dictate to Obama that he wait before inserting himself into the matter.
But Obama leapt right in, terming the investigation of Omar "appalling."
“Federal agents have raided her home, confiscated personal records, and seized her phone — all to try and uncover a nonexistent smoking gun from 20 years ago that will somehow make their case,” the 44th president posted on X.
“Think about that. The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president.” [....]
“The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views,” Obama went on.
“Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.”
Imagine Barack Obama, of all people, having the temerity to make any comment about going after an opponent.
But what's truly funny here is there was another small problem with this whole effort on Obama's part to take umbrage at a president's administration investigating Omar.
Guess who first started looking into the questions around Omar? As we reported, it was federal agents during Barack Obama's administration when Omar was running for the state legislature in Minnesota in 2016 who looked into the questions surrounding the allegations that one of her prior husbands, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, was also her brother and that there might be immigration issues.
As The New York Times reported (interestingly committing some more journalism):
The F.B.I. and Department of Homeland Security investigated the marriage in summer 2016, during the Obama administration, and found some evidence that it was fraudulent, current and former officials said. [....]
They found evidence suggesting that Mr. Elmi and Ms. Omar were siblings, according to the six former and current officials familiar with the case. But, because prosecutors did not pursue the matter, the agents had limited investigative tools, the officials said.
Was that an "effort to intimidate" Omar under you then, Barack Obama? Of course not. Just like the investigations aren't that now. But it's interesting the federal investigators didn't go further then, or were stopped from going into all the other questions we see being raised now. It sounds like there was a lot to find — if one just looked a little beyond the prior husband.
How embarrassing that Obama has taken the position that he has now, given how federal agents under him allegedly found evidence regarding the allegations about her prior husband. He went out on a limb for Omar, only to have his own administration's investigation cut that limb out from under him. He just made himself look foolish now defending her.
