Former United States President Barack Obama broke his two weeks of silence on Monday and issued a statement through his spokesperson, Kevin Lewis, encouraging Americans to publicly protest against US President Donald Trump's refugee ban.
Obama, during his final press conference earlier this month, had said that he would only comment on Trump's actions if at "certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake."
Obama, who is still on vacation with his family after leaving the office this month, denounced Trump's ban against entry of people from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States. Trump's executive actions on extreme vetting and visa ban applies to migrants, refugees and US legal residents — green-card holders — from Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Libya and Yemen.
Obama also contested Trump's claim that his immigration ban was in part based on the decisions made by the former administration, which included identifying the same seven countries as harbouring terrorism threats and tightening the vetting process of visas for Iraqis.
"With regard to comparisons to President Obama's foreign policy decisions, as we've heard before, the President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," Lewis said in a statement.
Although Obama had repeatedly stressed on the need to ensure a smooth transition and not to speak against the new administration and only to do so in rare instances, the former president has had to come out voicing against Trump's new policies and order. Speaking against one's successor is not a very common instance in the US presidential history.
"I don't think it's very common at all for an ex-president to be commenting on the performance of his successor. This current incumbent is so out of sync with what the normal behaviour of a president is that it calls for ex-presidents to respond," presidential historian Robert Dallek said, according to the Washington Post.
Obama, in his last conference, has sketched out instances when he would speak out as a private citizen which included ratification of systematic discrimination.
"I put in that category if I saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fashion. I put in that category explicit or functional obstacles to people being able to vote, to exercise their franchise. I'd put in that category institutional efforts to silence dissent or the press. And for me, at least, I would put in that category efforts to round up kids who have grown up here, and for all practical purposes are American kids, and send them someplace else, when they love this country," Obama had said.
