by Amna El Tawil
In the final week of his presidency, Barack Obama decided to commute Chelsea Manning’s sentence, thus allowing the former soldier to leave the prison in about five months. Logically, everyone would be thrilled they don’t have to spend much time in prison, so instead of being thankful, Chelsea Manning decided to speak against Obama.
Manning said Obama’s legacy had “very few permanent accomplishments” and that the US needed a stronger leader. Manning also criticized Obama’s reaction to the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida which left 49 people dead, saying “it took Obama over 300 words of his speech to acknowledge the queer community.”
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian, Manning also wrote: “The one simple lesson to draw from President Obama’s legacy: do not start off with a compromise. They won’t meet you in the middle. Instead, what we need is an unapologetic progressive leader.”
Takeaway from the @BarackObama legacy: What we need is a strong #unapologeticprogressive to lead us. t.co/HCag432bq1
— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) January 25, 2017
President Trump took to the personal Twitter account to voice his opinion about Chelsea Manning saying: “Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!”
Ungrateful TRAITOR Chelsea Manning, who should never have been released from prison, is now calling President Obama a weak leader. Terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2017
This just shows that although Trump and Obama disagree regarding a lot of things, the US President is still ready to make it perfectly clear he won’t stand for someone’s ungrateful behavior. Also, he praised Obama on several occasions for a “very beautiful” letter he left wishing him to do great things during his mandate.
WikiLeaks criticized Trump’s tweet, saying: “Manning was found innocent of ‘aiding the enemy’ & Pentagon admitted under oath no-one harmed.”
Trump is wrong. Manning was found innocent of "aiding the enemy" & Pentagon admitted under oath no-one harmed t.co/HxL1crB75M
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 26, 2017
Trump denounces Manning for agreeing with him. Compare: t.co/HxL1crB75M pic.twitter.com/zxoocRmvTY
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 26, 2017
Manning also responded to Trump, in a quite “bitchy” fashion.
OK? Whatevs t.co/6nHLTFd2Jx t.co/66l9cQL4wf
— Chelsea Manning (@xychelsea) January 26, 2017
Manning should be grateful they threw him into prison for exposing crimes