Former President Obama considered speaking out against President Trump over a speech Trump gave at the Boy Scout Jamboree last year, according to a New York magazine report.
Obama was reportedly upset by Trump’s speech, during which the sitting president took swipes at Obama and Hillary Clinton and shared an anecdote about spending time at yachts and cocktail parties “with the hottest people in New York.”
The former president feared that the children attending the event would pick up on the political divisiveness that Trump highlighted, according to New York Magazine.
Obama ultimately decided against speaking out about the speech.
The former president has remained relatively quiet since leaving office last year. He has issued statements speaking out against some of Trump’s policies, including the decision to exit the Paris climate deal and the since-ended policy of separating immigrant families at the border.
Trump faced some criticism for the speech at the Boy Scout Jamboree, and the head of the Boy Scouts of America apologized for those “who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree.”
The president claimed during an interview with the Wall Street Journal after the speech that the Boy Scouts chief called his address “the greatest speech that was ever made to them.”
As the 2018 midterms loom, Democrats have turned to the former president to get off the sidelines and help lead the party.
