Former President Barack Obama has upheld post-presidential norms by keeping commentary about the current administration to a minimum, but he reportedly considered weighing in on President Trump’s 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree speech.
Former President Barack Obama has upheld post-presidential norms by keeping commentary about the current administration to a minimum, but he reportedly considered weighing in on President Trump's 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree speech. "The Boy Scouts speech really troubled [Obama]. Kids their age are the most impressionable group there is, Obama reminded friends at the time, likening them to sponges," according to New York Magazine. "If the president shoves a divisive political argument at them, that's what they will absorb." Trump's address at the event was politically-charged and included numerous criticisms of both Obama and Hillary Clinton, notes The Hill. The speech was met with "USA" chants from the children and complaints from many of the parents.
In its wake, the Boy Scouts of America issued an apology.
