Former President Donald Trump started his "History Tour" by criticizing his predecessor, President Barack Obama in South Florida on Saturday night.
The tour—which features Trump alongside former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly—kicked off in Sunrise. During the event, he offered some praise for Obama, calling him "smart and sharp," the Sun-Sentinel reported.
"I liked him," he said, even as the crowd booed, the newspaper reported.
Still, he went on to blame Obama for causing "tremendous division" and hatred in the United States, according to the Sentinel.
Trump was less complimentary of President Joe Biden. He said that under his presidency, the United States is less respected than it was under his own. He said: "Every country in the world takes advantage of the United States."
"It's a horrible thing to say but I don't feel America, right now, is great," Trump added.
He specifically pointed to Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin as not respecting Biden—noting that he got along well with them when he was president.
"For whatever reason, I got along great with them," he said. "Isn't that better than having a nuclear war?
Trump's comments come after a long, tumultuous relationship with Obama. For years during Obama's presidency, Trump and other Republicans pushed a baseless—and widely regarded as racist—theory that Obama was not born in the United States and that he faked his birth certificate.
During a CNN appearance in May 2012, Trump said: "A lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate. Many people do not think it was authentic. His mother was not in the hospital. There are many other things that came out. And frankly, if you would report it accurately I think you'd probably get better ratings than you're getting."
Former First Lady Michelle Obama wrote in her memoir Becoming that she would "never forgive" Trump for the comments.
"The whole [birther] thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed," she wrote.
During a 2016 interview on Fox News, Trump called Obama "the worst president, maybe, in the history of our country."
Newsweek reached out to the office of former President Barack Obama and the White House for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more
