General Mike Flynn, who served as national security advisor for former president Donald Trump but was relieved of his duties after he allegedly lied to then vice president Mike Pence, accused former president Barack Obama of spreading misinformation.
Flynn was let go as national security advisor after three weeks in office when it was revealed that he was not truthful about a conversation he had with then Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak while speaking with Pence. He later pleaded guilty for lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the conversation with Kislyak. Trump pardoned him three years ago.
On Sunday, Flynn posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, that claimed that Barack Obama was responsible for divisions in the U.S.
"You are the greatest of all disinformation mouthpieces," Flynn wrote. "Instead of speaking for strong black men and strong black families and all American families during your 8 years in office, you furthered us on this horrible path of race baiting and name calling."
Newsweek contacted Flynn via email for comment on Monday.
Sir, you are the “raw sewage,” you are the greatest of all disinformation mouthpieces, you are the one that started America on this road toward socialism.
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) December 24, 2023
It is you @BarackObama that created the incredible levels of divisiveness within our country. Instead of speaking for strong… https://t.co/m5mRwOQdgY
The comments appeared to be in response to a keynote speech by the former president in 2022 at a Stanford University Cyber Policy Center conference. The address centered around issues of (mis)information, technology and the future of democracy.
Flynn's post on X was in response to a clip of the speech posted on the platform by another user.
"It's not necessary for people to believe this information in order to weaken democratic institutions. You just have to flood a country's public square with enough raw sewage. You just have to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theorizing that citizens no longer know what to believe," Obama said in the clip.
"Once they lose trust in their leaders, in mainstream media, in political institutions, in each other, in the possibility of truth, the game's won."
The clip on X ended there. Obama, though, went to add that, "as Putin discovered leading up to the 2016 election, our own social media platforms are well designed to support such a mission, such a project."
Obama also discussed the role of social media platforms and what they can to do tackle the spread of misinformation. He later expressed regret that while president he didn't fully appreciate the scale of the challenge represented by misinformation.
"What does still nag at me, though, was my failure to fully appreciate at the time just how susceptible we had become to lies and conspiracy theories, despite having spent years being a target of disinformation myself," Obama said.
On his note on X, Flynn said that he was praying that the new year would be of historic consequence for America.
"Your vision for America will be put into the rear view mirror of history," Flynn claimed of Obama.
Newsweek contacted Obama's foundation via email for comment on Monday.
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Omar Mohammed is a Newsweek reporter based in the Greater Boston area. His focus is reporting on the Economy and ... Read more
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