The current President of the United States has blamed his predecessor for the flurry of leaks that have plagued the Trump administration’s rocky start in the White House.

He of course failed to provide any evidence.

In a Tuesday morning interview with “Fox and Friends”, reportedly Trump’s favourite cable news show and indeed information source, the president accused Obama and his ‘people’ of not only organising the waves of protest that now symbolize his first month in office, but he also claimed that they were behind the numerous leaks of classified information being released – at an unprecedented rate.

Trump was asked by Fox News presenter Brian Kilmeade if he believed that Obama was the driving force behind the protests that have seen millions rise up and take to the streets in anger and opposition to Trump and his policies, including the raucous town hall meetings that took place last week.

“I think he is behind it,” Trump responded. “I also think its just politics. That’s just the way it is.”

Widespread protests

Along with the angry citizens in town halls last week, there have been protests at airports across the country opposing Trump’s travel ban; as well as the huge Women’s Marches that took place the day after Trump was sworn in.

Kilmeade referred to the Organizing for Action group, which is set up by Obama’s compaign and committed to advocating for his agenda. It is described on its website as “a non-partisan, issue advocacy organization committed to growing the grassroots movement by training, educating, and activating civically engaged community members across the country.”

While the website does have a link to the ‘Town Hall Project’ – a separate open-source group established to encourage citizens to attend town hall meetings; and it has a list of such events hosted by both Democrat and Republican lawmakers, there is no indication that Obama has direct involvement with Organising for Action or any link to the Town Hall Project.

“I think that President Obama is probably behind it because his people are certainly behind it,” Trump said. “In terms of him being behind things, that’s politics and it will probably continue.”

As far as the leaking of classified information, Trump also pointed the finger at Organizing for Action for orchestrating this campaign. “Some of the leaks possibly come from that group,” Trump said. “You know, some of the leaks — which are really very serious leaks because they’re very bad in terms of national security — but I also understand that’s politics and it will probably continue.”

Obama took the unique step of criticising his successor’s travel ban last month, saying he “fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”

Trump’s attack on Obama comes the day after another former president took aim at Trump, criticising his attacks on the media. “We need an independent media to hold people like me to account,” Bush said. “I considered the media to be indispensable to democracy. Power can be very addictive, and it can be corrosive.”

Performance review

Approval ratings for the President’s job performance have been at historic lows. A recent Quinnipiac University survey found that 55% of American voters disapprove of Trump’s performance.

But the President said he would give himself an “A” in achievement but in messaging a “C or C plus.”

“In terms of messaging, I would give myself a C or a C plus,” Trump said. “In terms of achievement I think I’d give myself an A. Because I’ve done great things, but I don’t think we’ve explained it well enough to the American people.”

The President also gave himself an “A” for “effort.”

Watch the full interview here:

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