Speaking at “thank you” rallies in both Louisiana and Michigan on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump told those gathered that he believes Barack Obama has been “really doing great” and that he has no interest in prosecuting Hillary Clinton now that the election is over.
He mentioned Obama in discussing concerns about voter fraud, which he said has only “gotten worse” since the current president spoke of the matter in 2008.
“President Obama—who by the way I’ve gotten along with so well,” he said at the Baton Rouge event, being met with boos in mentioning Obama.
“No, no, no,” Trump said in response to the crowd’s displeasure. “He’s really doing great. He’s been so nice.”
“But eight years ago he talked about, in Chicago, what goes on. They don’t talk about it any more,” he stated. “And believe me, it’s only gotten worse folks, only gotten worse. We’ve got to talk about it.”
Trump had previously stated of Obama in August, “I think he’s the worst president maybe in the history of our country. I think he’s been a disaster. He’s been weak. He’s been ineffective.”
“I think that Hillary Clinton has the potential to be even worse,” he added. “She will be terrible. Look at the lies.”
But later in the day, when speaking to supporters in Michigan, as Trump was met with chants of “lock her up” from those who wanted him to take action against Clinton, he said those ideas were all in the past.
“No, forget it. That plays great before the election,” he said in response. “Now we don’t care, right?”
Trump had stated while running for office that when elected, he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into Clinton’s use of a private server while secretary of state.
“It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” Clinton said during a presidential debate in October.
“Because you’d be in jail,” Trump replied.
However, weeks after the election, when asked about the matter, he said he wasn’t interested in prosecuting his former Democratic opponent.
“I don’t want to hurt the Clintons; I really don’t,” Trump told the New York Times. “She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways, and I am not looking to hurt them at all. The campaign was vicious.”
“It’s not something that I feel very strongly about,” he said. “This has been a very painful period of time.”
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