The long-debunked “Obamagate” conspiracy theory was brought back to life just five years ago by President Donald Trump, who falsely accused former President Barack Obama of treason for allegedly eavesdropping on him.
Trump is now doing it once more, posting a phony AI-generated video showing the arrest of a Black man in an attempt to incite outrage, intensifying demands that Obama face charges, and reigniting allegations of a “deep state coup.”
However, Obama is retaliating this time. Obama’s office denounced Trump’s remarks as “outrageous” and “a weak attempt at distraction” in a rare public statement issued through his spokesperson, Patrick Rodenbush. The office said that the former president usually refrains from addressing the “constant nonsense” emanating from Trump’s White House.
Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has called for criminal prosecution of Obama and a number of his administration officials for “treasonous conspiracy” about Trump’s 2016 win, calling it a “years-long coup.”
Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Obama officials allegedly “manipulated and withheld” important findings about potential Russian meddling in the 2016 election from the public, according to a declassified intelligence report made public by ODNI on July 18.
Politicians and commentators are mostly refuting the charge, with Connecticut Representative Jim Himes, the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, describing it as “baseless.” Reactions from skeptics are pouring out on social media, with some speculating that it’s just another ploy to divert attention away from the Epstein files’ release, which is a serious scandal.
Narrative Missile Lock… OBAMA IS THE TARGET…🎯
In game theory this is a preemptive framing strike to lock public perception before the real evidence detonates…
Trump’s shifting blame from Hillary to Obama… setting the stage for legal, constitutional, and possibly… pic.twitter.com/KUYps4rMI2— Observing Consciousness (@holonabove) July 22, 2025
Trump pledged to make the Epstein papers public if he won the election back in September 2024, but he has since kicked the can down the road and most recently blamed Obama. He told a Fox News reporter on July 15 that Obama and James Comey, the former FBI director, “just made up the files.”
Commenters on social media pounced on the theory: “FACT CHECK: The first federal Epstein probe was under George W. Bush. The second? July 2019 – UNDER TRUMP. Obama had ZERO to do with it,” wrote the account Call To Activism.
In a strange social media post on July 20, Trump then posted an AI-generated video of Obama being chained and pushed to his knees in the Oval Office, with Trump sitting next to him, grinning. Obama is seen trudging glumly around a prison in the film, which ends with the words, “No one is above the law!” Republicans Against Trump, a well-known account, pointed out the ridiculous video as just another effort to divert attention.
Trump is so old and stupid he’s tacitly admitting that the Obama shit is an obvious ploy to change the coverage from Epstein to shit Tulsi has completely fabricated from 2015/16 https://t.co/fzka3OFXlG
— J Mark (@Pete_Monahan_JD) July 22, 2025
“Donald Trump just posted a video of former President Obama getting arrested. Anything to distract from the Epstein files…” The internet exploded with many calling out the obvious dog whistle. “This is not funny. It is particularly disgusting to show an innocent Black person getting arrested–particularly one who has spent a lifetime trying to overcome the stereotypes that racists like Trump favor,” one user wrote on X. One even called for his impeachment, “The ignorant bully must be impeached!”
Another user added, “of course he reposts a video of a black man getting arrested…” with a quick response from another commenter, “Oh, the racism is starting to show…”
Trump’s preoccupation with Obama gave others a field day. Obama’s administration, which seldom addresses Trump’s provocations directly, released a statement denouncing the most recent charges and deflecting tactics.
Watch Trump Admit He’s Attacking Obama to Distract From Epstein – The New Republic https://t.co/QZDLSDXpIn
— Logan R (@LoganinSanDiego) July 22, 2025
“Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response. But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” said spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush.
The declassified study Trump referenced, he said, does not refute the general agreement that Russia tried to sway the 2016 election but failed to change any votes. “The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, under the leadership of then-Chairman Marco Rubio, confirmed these findings in a 2020 report.” The former president’s staff is rebuking Trump directly as he and his supporters, especially Gabbard, intensify accusations of a “coup” against his presidency.
