Former President Barack Obama said during a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday night that President Trump has accelerated the process of “truth decay” while discussing division in Washington.
Obama said that Trump has disregarded basic institutional norms, and expectations had for a presidency in an interview with Scott Pelley promoting his new memoir “A Promised Land,” as well as accusing the administration of “truth decay.” (RELATED: Obama Compares Trump To A Dictator Who Thinks He ‘Can Kill People’ And ‘Suppress Journalists’ In 60 Minutes Interview)
“And maybe most importantly, and most disconcertingly, what we’ve seen is what some people call ‘truth decay,’ something that’s been accelerated by outgoing President Trump, the sense that not only do we not have to tell the truth, but the truth doesn’t even matter,” he said.
Pelley questioned Obama about voter fraud allegations. The former president said that Trump and Republicans are going down a dangerous path.
“The President doesn’t like to lose and never admits loss,” said Obama. “I’m more troubled by the fact that other Republican officials who clearly know better are going along with this, are humoring him in this fashion. It is one more step in delegitimizing not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy generally.”
Congratulations to my friends, @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris — our next President and Vice President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/febgqxUi1y
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 7, 2020
Obama also said that while he views Trump as an “accelerant” for divisions in Washington and across America, he does not see his successor as the cause. Instead, he blames the issue on both the filibuster tradition and non-traditional media strongly influencing the minds of voters.
“You already saw some of these trends taking place early in my presidency, but I do think they’ve kept on getting worse,” he said.
The former president concluded his interview by stating that while he had regrets, he could look back at the country feeling as though he left it in a better place than when he started his term.
Pelley did not ask Obama to elaborate on what some of those regrets might have been or his failures as a leader, including the 2012 Benghazi attack.
“A Promised Land” is set to be released Tuesday.