Former President Barack Obama has made his official return to the public eye on April 24. Since then, he hasn’t held back on his true feelings on President Donald Trump.
Obama was paid $400,000 on April 27 to appear for an interview over the A&E Networks advertising headquarters in New York, according to The New York Post. He was interviewed for 90 minutes by presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin about his time and office and what he’s been up to over the past three months.
He told the crowd that he still hasn’t driven a car and joked that he is just learning how to use the coffee machine in his new Washington D.C. home.
The former president also reminisced on what he will miss about living in the White House, saying that he loved to sit on Truman Balcony on summer nights and gaze at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.
However, the most controversial moment came when Goodwin asked how he would handle frustrating moments while president.
Obama responded in a clear jab at Trump: “For starters, by not having a Twitter account.”
The former president has come under fire recently for accepting a lucrative speaking engagement at September Wall Street conference. The Washington Post reports that there are estimations he will receive another $400,000.
Obama’s senior adviser Eric Shultz emphasized that the conference will be focused on health care and that the former president accepted the engagement “because, as a president who successfully passed health insurance reform, it’s an issue of great importance to him.”
Top democrats have been troubled by the news, saying that it only adds to Wall Street’s influence in Washington.
“The influence of dollars on this place is what scares me. I think it ultimately threatens democracy,” said Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, according to The New York Daily Post.
“[Money is] a snake that slithers through Washington. And that it shows up in so many different ways here in Washington.”
Schultz has responded to concerns saying that he doesn’t see a conflict of interest.
“With regard to this or any speech involving Wall Street sponsors, I’d just point out that in 2008, Barack Obama raised more money from Wall Street than any candidate in history — and still went on to successfully pass and implement the toughest reforms on Wall Street since FDR,” he said, according to The Washington Post. “And while he’ll continue to give speeches from time to time, he’ll spend most of his time writing his book and, as he said in Chicago this week, focusing his post-presidency work on training and elevating a new generation of political leaders in America.”
Sources: The New York Daily Post (2), The Washington Post / Photo Credit: IIP Photo Archive/Flickr
