The one thing Trump can't explain about Obamagate theory

As the United States inches closer to what is shaping up to be a watershed federal election, there is a new favourite buzzword being touted by incumbent president Donald Trump: “Obamagate”.

You can be forgiven for not understanding what it means, because it’s hard to know if Mr Trump even knows what he means by it.

Adding the suffix ‘gate’ to the name of his predecessor Barack Obama, the president is ascribing some sort of scandal or malfeasance to the former Democratic president.

But when asked last week by reporters to define Obama’s misdeeds in the alleged “Obamagate”, Mr Trump failed to articulate one.

“You know what the crime is,” he said. “The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours,” he said before quickly moving on.

Despite being quick to allude to it, Mr Trump continually refuses to be drawn on any specifics, or articulate exactly what he means by the term.

What is Obamagate really about?

The term has come to refer to a legal case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn who was briefly the National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump and was charged with lying to the FBI, before the charges were later dropped.

By vaguely dubbing his allegations “Obamagate,” Mr Trump is pointing to unspecified conspiracies purportedly perpetrated against him in 2016 and suggesting the disclosure of Michael Flynn’s name as part of legal US surveillance of foreign targets was criminal and motivated by partisan politics.

Mr Flynn’s name came up in an investigation about sharing sensitive information with foreign nationals, implicating Trump’s campaign with potential collusion with Russia.

There is evidence that Obama knew about the investigation but no evidence to suggest he authorised it on partisan grounds.

Known as “unmasking”, Mr Flynn’s name was only revealed because of what he said in recordings collected by US intelligence agencies during routine surveillance of foreign targets.

US officials can ask the agency that collected the intelligence to unmask the name if they think it is vital to understanding the intelligence.

However, those who champion the so-called Obamagate conspiracy, say it proves the Obama administration unfairly and illegally targeted Mr Flynn and other associates of Donald Trump in 2016.

For Trump, conspiracy is the weapon of choice

Mr Trump, who was one of the main drivers behind the Obama birther conspiracy years ago which questioned the birthplace of the former president, has a history of throwing petrol on the fire of baseless conspiracy theories in order to redirect media attention, attack rivals and excite his supporters.

While the latest conspiracy alludes to the investigation in the finals days of the Obama presidency, for Mr Trump, the beauty of so-called Obamagate is that it lets supporters and the broader public fill in their own meaning and suspicions.

The vaguer the innuendo, the easier it is for supporters to inject their own prejudices and amid all the controversy and chaos, the truth is harder to see.

Jennifer Mercieca, the author of Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump, says this constant muddying of the waters with conspiracies allows the president to throw suspicion at whoever he likes. In this case, the administration in which his now rival Joe Biden was Vice President.

“Conspiracy is a ‘self-sealing’ narrative – it can never be disproven,” Ms Mercieca told Politico in a piece on why Mr Trump has seemingly stepped up his peddling of conspiracies lately.

“The logics of conspiracy cover up the lack of proof (they are hiding the proof) or disconfirming proof (they can’t be trusted to tell the truth). He who wields conspiracy is very powerful because he can point suspicion in any direction he likes.”

• ‘Not even pretending to be in charge’: Obama slams US’s response to coronavirus

• The ominous graph behind Trump's backdown on ending coronavirus taskforce

In a separate piece published on the same day last week, The Atlantic tried to wade through the topic by offering its readers a suggestion on “How to Understand Obamagate”.

“Precisely what Trump is alleging against Obama is obscure, and probably beside the point,” it said.

“Trump isn’t really interested in alleging any particular crime. The point of ‘Obamagate’ is to try to recapture the force that propelled Trump to political prominence.”

That force is painting himself as a political outsider fighting against the corruption of the established elite in Washington by weaponising whatever crazy idea is floating around the internet – and we can likely expect much more of it before the US presidential election in November.

with AP

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.