Former President Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump for deploying the National Guard to Chicago to address crime, asserting that it is “inherently corrupting” for a president to utilize the military “against their own people.”
Obama expressed his dissatisfaction with Trump during the concluding episode of Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, released on Monday. The former president stated his belief that Trump had “weakened” democracy throughout the initial year of his second administration.
“When you have military that can direct force against their own people, that is inherently corrupting. And so when you now start seeing the politicization of the military — deliberately, right—” Obama said.
“They just landed in Chicago!” Maron jumped in to add.
Obama continued denouncing Trump right after.
“When you have what looks like a deliberate end run around not just a concept but a law that’s been around for a long time, Posse Comitatus, that says you don’t use our military on domestic soil unless there is an extraordinary emergency of some sort; that when you see an administration suggest that ordinary street crime is an insurrection or—” Obama said.
“A terrorist attack,” Maron chimed in.