Jealousy: Trump lashes out at Obama administration as his own presidency flails

Donald Trump is limping toward the 100th day of his presidency without any major legislative accomplishments, an approval rating under water, and his loss of the popular vote to Hillary Clinton clearly still haunting him. It cannot escape him or his White House that former President Barack Obama was well ahead of Trump by this point in his presidency, with significant legislation enacted and high approval numbers.

Increasingly frustrated, Trump has been attacking key figures who served under the Obama administration, as his White House gets left in the dust by his predecessor’s accomplishments.

Most notably, Trump has repeatedly attacked Clinton, who was Obama’s secretary of state as well as the 2016 candidate who beat Trump in the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Even now, he appears unable to keep Clinton from occupying space in his head, rent-free.

He complained to Fox Business about the FBI’s decision on Clinton’s emails, arguing that “she was guilty of every charge, and then [FBI director James Comey] said she was essentially OK.” Trump also showed he still had Clinton on his mind by tweeting about the debates, five months after the election.

Trump has continued to tweet about Clinton, often in attempts to deflect from negative news coverage of his administration.

Former UN Ambassador and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who served under President Obama, has also found herself in Trump’s crosshairs.

As revelations began to pile up in the ongoing investigation of Trump’s connection to Russia, he accused President Obama of wiretapping him, without any evidence to substantiate it. When that story began falling apart, Trump and his supporters (including Fox News) concocted a conspiracy theory that Rice had engaged in the politically motivated unmasking of Trump campaign officials. That story was false as well — which has not stopped Trump from continuing to repeat these debunked lies.

These attacks, in combination with Trump’s complaints and smears of Obama, point to a sense of inadequacy hanging over the Trump White House.

Within the first month of his presidency, Obama had signed the Recovery Act into law, stimulating the economic recovery that beat back the malaise of the Bush recession. Within the first 100 days, Obama had also expanded health care coverage to 4 million more children, and enacted the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which allowed more time for employees to file legal actions for pay discrimination.

Trump, on the other hand, has no significant legislative achievements during his time as president. Instead, he has spent his time instigating and negotiating feuds within his White House and between congressional Republicans. He has delivered none of the massive reforms he promised during his campaign.

Trump has faced defeat of his Muslim ban in court, while his attempt to repeal Obamacare was dead on arrival. There is still no evidence of an infrastructure or tax reform plan despite the administration’s claims that they are coming, and he has not demonstrated the political skill needed to secure the passage of such complex and wide-ranging legislation.

Even the installation of Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court is more of an achievement for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blocked Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, from even receiving a hearing, much less a vote. Trump’s role in the Gorsuch nomination was as a warm body, at best.

Additionally, Trump has an aggregate approval rating of 42 percent. At a similar point in his presidency, President Obama had a 60.9 percent approval.

Trump is flailing and failing, his legislative agenda is treading water, his campaign is under FBI investigation, and America does not approve of him. And Trump knows it, and he is lashing out at President Obama and top members of his successful presidential team.

Sad!