Trump: Obama ‘had to know’ of ‘setup’ to block presidential bid
President Trump said former President Obama “had to know about” what he believes was a “setup” to prevent Trump from becoming president.
Speaking to George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” Trump insisted special counsel Robert Mueller’s report cleared him of allegations of collusion with Russia and accused “lowlifes” in the FBI of working against him.
{mosads}”There was no crime. There was no collusion. The big thing’s collusion,” Trump said. “Now there’s no collusion. That means they set — it was a setup, in my opinion, and I think it’s gonna come out.”
“You clearly believe there was a group of people working against you,” Stephanopoulos said. “Do you think President Obama was behind it?”
“I would say that he certainly must have known about it because it went very high up in the chain, but you’re gonna find that out. I’m not gonna make that statement quite yet, but I would say that President Obama had to know about it,” Trump replied.
.@GStephanopoulos: “You clearly believe that there was a group of people working against you. Do you think Pres. Obama was behind it?”
Pres. Trump: “I would say that he certainly must have known about it … I’m not gonna make that statement quite yet” https://t.co/J72Biz1YSs pic.twitter.com/xANi3MPLb7
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 16, 2019
Trump pointed to texts between former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page disparaging the president, which have sparked GOP demands to probe the origins of the Mueller investigation, as proof.
The president’s remarks came during the same interview that caused an uproar last week when a clip was released of Trump saying he would listen if a foreign government offered him damaging information about a political opponent and refusing to commit to going to the FBI.
Stephanopoulos ended the interview by asking Trump if he believed Obama spied on his campaign.
Trump responded, “I don’t know. But hopefully we’re gonna find out.”
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