# Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping him **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 4, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384 "2017-03-04T15:07:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/281 "2017-03-13T17:14:57Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Or what? Serious question: how does anyone make him do anything? He just ignores requests, like he has ignored the request to produce his tax returns. > > I don’t mean this as a snarky rhetorical question. Really. I’d like to know how anyone can enforce anything on him. I’m also curious. Short of congressional censure or impeachment, what’s stopping a president from saying anything he likes any time he likes? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/282 "2017-03-13T17:23:21Z")
Well, today was supposed to be the deadline to present the evidence. Anything yet? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/283 "2017-03-13T17:38:05Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > But there will be no consequences to him. He will just continue beating his lying gums. Yeah, this is what amazes me about threads like this on these boards. People declare that this latest relatively minor thing is The Outrage that will Bring Down Trump, and talk about how he Must Answer by a Deadline or it will be over for sure! Then when the latest bluster doesn’t actually result in the downfall of the Trump regime, they move on to the next accusation or scandal and repeat it. I really don’t know what people were expecting to happen today specifically, but I expect them to be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/284 "2017-03-13T17:38:39Z")
This Administration [isn’t Inspector Gadget and isn’t in the job of having evidence.](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kellyanne-conway-microwave-comments-not-inspector-gadget-job-having-evidence-response-a7627441.html) You could bowl me over with a feather. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/285 "2017-03-13T17:42:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Well, today was supposed to be the deadline to present the evidence. > Anything yet? I think that Trump told them to “fuck off” and put them on his ignore list. So that’s that. ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/286 "2017-03-13T18:31:53Z")
> [@](#): > > " Can you point to some hard evidence of this (so I can at least sleep at night)? " TL #280 > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=820740&page=6](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=820740&page=6) If you like, but in the: ACA Future thread if you please. Meanwhile, I know some dismiss Senate Armed Services Chairman McCain as a R.I.N.O. etc. But I appreciate McCain taking the stand that President Trump should either provide the evidence of the alleged Obama administration Trump Tower wiretap, or drop the accusation. Some reports indicate Trump has been ducking questions for the past few days, perhaps an attempt to not have to respond on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/287 "2017-03-13T19:42:55Z")
No “perhaps” about it. The man is an unrepentant lying coward. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/288 "2017-03-13T19:45:07Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Yeah, this is what amazes me about threads like this on these boards. People declare that this latest relatively minor thing is The Outrage that will Bring Down Trump, and talk about how he Must Answer by a Deadline or it will be over for sure! Then when the latest bluster doesn’t actually result in the downfall of the Trump regime, they move on to the next accusation or scandal and repeat it. That’s quite a broad generalization! Surely you’ll have no trouble linking us to a few posts containing remarks such as the ones you claim are made on “these boards”…? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/289 "2017-03-13T19:58:24Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > That’s quite a broad generalization! Surely you’ll have no trouble linking us to a few posts containing remarks such as the ones you claim are made on “these boards”…? I think he’s referring to John McCain’s statements to the press more than he is the traffic on this message board. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/290 "2017-03-13T20:29:55Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I think he’s referring to John McCain’s statements to the press more than he is the traffic on this message board. You do? The entire post in question is below; look at the bit in red. How does that sound like John McCain rather than people on these boards? “…on these boards. People declare…” > [@Pantastic](#): > > Yeah, this is what amazes me about threads like this on these boards. People declare that this latest relatively minor thing is The Outrage that will Bring Down Trump, and talk about how he Must Answer by a Deadline or it will be over for sure! Then when the latest bluster doesn’t actually result in the downfall of the Trump regime, they move on to the next accusation or scandal and repeat it. > I really don’t know what people were expecting to happen today specifically, but I expect them to be disappointed. I’m not seeing where you’re getting ‘someone other than posters on these boards’ out of that. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/291 "2017-03-13T20:56:23Z")
No, we’re all confused. According to Sean Spicer, when Trump said tapp he didn’t mean wiretapping. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i--7tc7p-8w) [Of course, Kellyanne Conway thinks Obama is spying on us with our microwaves, so …](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/us/politics/kellyanne-conway-obama-microwave-surveillance.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/292 "2017-03-13T21:00:55Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > No, we’re all confused. According to Sean Spicer, when Trump said tapp he didn’t mean wiretapping. > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i--7tc7p-8w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i--7tc7p-8w) > > [Of course, Kellyanne Conway thinks Obama is spying on us with our microwaves, so …](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/us/politics/kellyanne-conway-obama-microwave-surveillance.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur) I can’t youtube at work-What is he claiming instead? That Obama was tap, tapping on his window? That he was sneaking beer from the Trump beer tap? That he wouldn’t stop tap-dancing all night? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/293 "2017-03-13T21:02:11Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > That’s quite a broad generalization! Surely you’ll have no trouble linking us to a few posts containing remarks such as the ones you claim are made on “these boards”…? Have you been reading this thread? I really don’t get people who demand cites for something that’s happening in the very thread they’re reading. And I’m not interested enough to dig through the various outraged about Trump threads to provide quotes from other threads, I really don’t care if you believe me about something that keeps happening on this board. And I seriously have no idea why Ravenman thinks I’m talking about John McCain when I directly referenced ‘these boards’ - I’m talking about threads on the SDMB. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > President Pants-on-Fire has until tomorrow to provide proof of the alleged wiretapping of President Obama. It looks as if he has nothing to show, which will only settle once and for all the fact that you cannot believe one word that comes from this traitor’s mouth. As if further proof were needed. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Traitor Trump loses either way. No evidence to present? Then he is definitively a LIAR! Evidence to present? Well, it will show that not only did President Obama not order it personally, something he would have been unable to do, but a court at some point was shown enough evidence implicating one or more of Trump’s goons in something criminal that the court was concerned enough to order wiretapping. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/294 "2017-03-13T21:03:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I can’t youtube at work-What is he claiming instead? That Obama was tap, tapping on his window? That he was sneaking beer from the Trump beer tap? That he wouldn’t stop tap-dancing all night? He said that Trump said “wiretapping” in quotes, so he didn’t necessarily mean wiretapping. Except he didn’t say “wiretapping”, he said tapp, misspelled, and not in quotes. And by wiretapping, he meant all sorts of anything that could be spying on him. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/295 "2017-03-13T21:04:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > [“Benghazi!”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13L6pwjKsX0) I’m not sure why you’re linking to a video that’s apparently about a controversy that the Republicans stirred up and successfully used against Clinton, that Trump ran with rather successfully. If you want to show that Trump and the Republicans are good at the game of making accusations that stick, then I guess you’re trying to say that you think this accusation will work well for him? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/296 "2017-03-13T21:53:45Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Have you been reading this thread? I really don’t get people who demand cites for something that’s happening in the very thread they’re reading. And I’m not interested enough to dig through the various outraged about Trump threads to provide quotes from other threads, I really don’t care if you believe me about something that keeps happening on this board. And I seriously have no idea why Ravenman thinks I’m talking about John McCain when I directly referenced ‘these boards’ - I’m talking about threads on the SDMB. In other words: _ya got nothing_. You quoted two posts from Siam Sam, who said nothing remotely close to what you claimed in your post (quoted below). SS said Trump is a liar. That isn’t what you claimed “people” were “declaring”: that there is an “Outrage that will Bring Down Trump” and that if Trump doesn’t “Answer by a Deadline,” then “it will be over for sure.” **You made a false claim. You can’t back it up**. > [@Pantastic](#): > > Yeah, this is what amazes me about threads like this on these boards. People declare that this latest relatively minor thing is The Outrage that will Bring Down Trump, and talk about how he Must Answer by a Deadline or it will be over for sure! Then when the latest bluster doesn’t actually result in the downfall of the Trump regime, they move on to the next accusation or scandal and repeat it. > I really don’t know what people were expecting to happen today specifically, but I expect them to be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/297 "2017-03-13T22:36:14Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > And I seriously have no idea why Ravenman thinks I’m talking about John McCain when I directly referenced ‘these boards’ - I’m talking about threads on the SDMB. Maybe the point was too subtle. I was poking fun at you because you imply that only we liberal message board users care about this issue, when it is a fact that John McCain is probably MORE charged up than the posters in this thread. I’ll remember to respond in more concrete ways to your future questions. ---
**Author:** ![sear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sear)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/298 "2017-03-14T00:05:18Z")
K.A.Conway says it might not have been a tapped telephone, but a microwave oven. So President Obama is spying on Trump’s Pop Tarts? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/299 "2017-03-14T00:06:30Z")
> [@sear](#): > > K.A.Conway says it might not have been a tapped telephone, but a microwave oven. > > So President Obama is spying on Trump’s Pop Tarts? Pop Tarts don’t go in a microwave. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384/300 "2017-03-14T00:30:07Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Maybe the point was too subtle. I was poking fun at you because you imply that only we liberal message board users care about this issue, when it is a fact that John McCain is probably MORE charged up than the posters in this thread. I posted nothing that implied any such thing. I posted my amazement at behavior that I observe on these boards in Trump threads, I didn’t say anything that says or even implies that the only people concerned with the allegations are message board posters. Unfortunately, most Trump-related threads in GD don’t have much in the way of debate, as shown here. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > In other words: _ya got nothing_. I’m really not deeply troubled that you don’t agree with my summary of message board posts, because I don’t get into pointless semantics arguments on message boards any more. If you want to crow that I made a false claim because you think that “has until tomorrow” is not a deadline, or that “Traitor Trump loses either way” or “which will only settle once and for all the fact that you cannot believe one word that comes from this traitor’s mouth” count as it bringing down Trump, I’m not going to argue English language usage. Though it’s kind of ironic given the context of this thread, since a major part what’s probably going let Trump come out ahead in this latest ‘crisis’ is semantics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-accuses-obama-of-wiretapping-him/781384.md?page=16)