Trump says Obama 'threatened democracy' by spying on his campaign, warns he 'will be caught' for it

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump slammed former President Barack Obama and said he threatened democracy by allegedly spying on his 2016 election campaign during an interview with Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures'. 

The POTUS' remarks came as host Maria Bartiromo noted that "all of these indictments caused Obama the other day, in a podcast, to say that right now, democracy is being threatened." Bartiromo was likely referring to the indictments brought against former FBI chief James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James by Trump's Department of Justice.

Trump says Obama 'spied on my campaign' knowing it was illegal

During his interview with Fox News, which aired on Sunday, October 19, Donald Trump said, “He says that all the time. He's the one that threatened it, by spying on my campaign. He started it. Obama spied on my campaign, and he did it knowing it was illegal.”

"He knew it was illegal, but he started the whole thing. And there were a lot of dishonest people, and I suspect they'll be caught," the commander-in-chief told Bartiromo.

Republicans have recently doubled down on the idea that they have fallen victim to politically motivated surveillance by Democrats in the last few years.

However, Democrats have refuted such allegations.

Notably, earlier in October, Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley released a bombshell document that shows that several Republican lawmakers were being investigated during a probe into the January 6 Capitol riot.

Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, and Marsha Blackburn were probed, as per an FBI document published by Grassley.

The one-page file was apparently made following former special counsel Jack Smith's "Arctic Frost" investigation, which probed the riot and election interference claims.

Interestingly, the file sheds light on how the FBI conducted its investigation and used phone records to track sitting lawmakers. It is titled "CAST Assistance," referring to the agency's cellular analysis survey team.

Obama says 'rising wave of authoritarianism' is sweeping the globe

In early October, Barack Obama warned about the "rising wave of authoritarianism sweeping the globe," even in countries once believed unsusceptible to an erosion of liberties, while speaking with democracy activists from Hungary and Poland.

Obama said in a video introducing the conversation, which took place in London, “I’ve become increasingly concerned about the rising wave of authoritarianism sweeping the globe.”

“We’re seeing politicians target civil society, undermine freedom of the press, weaponize the justice system. And no one is being spared. Even countries that thought they were immune from wholesale assaults on democracy now understand that we’re all part of one struggle,” he added.

While he didn’t mention Trump by name, the Democrat has taken an outspoken posture against the POTUS throughout a series of public appearances this year. He has amped up his criticism of Trump’s second term and expressed concern about the state of American politics.