Obama Cautions Leaders on 'Dangers of the Internet' - But Doesn't Mention Trump by Name

Former President Barack Obama is taking some veiled swipes at his successor. During a BBC Radio interview with Britain’s Prince Harry, Obama spoke at length about the dangers of too much internet usage and the appropriate way for leaders to engage online.

“All of us in leadership have to find ways to re-create a common space on the internet,” said Obama. “One of the dangers of the internet is people can have entirely different realities. They can be just cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases.”

He did not mention President Donald Trump, a frequent Twitter user, by name.

“The question I think really has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn’t lead to a balkanization of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground,” he added.

Also Read: Hollywood Wants to Press Delete Button on Net Neutrality Repeal: 'Nobody Is Asking for It'

The expansive talk with the British royal was recorded for BBC Radio 4 and included a lighting round in which the prince also asked the former leader of the free world if he wore “boxers of briefs.”

Obama declined to answer.

Since leaving the White House, Obama has mostly followed in the tradition of his predecessor George W. Bush and refrained from commenting publicly on his successor, Donald Trump. When Obama has made news, it has more often been for extra-curricular adventures — like vacationing with his billionaire friend Richard Branson.

Also Read: Congrats, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry! Twitter Is Already Planning Royal Wedding

Obama has spoken out on occasion against some of Trump’s policies, specifically his decision to end the immigration program DACA in September.

“To target these young people is wrong — because they have done nothing wrong,” he said in a lengthy denunciation on Facebook of the program for so-called DREAMers who entered the U.S. as minors.

7 Stars Who Imagined Violence Against Barack Obama, Democrats (Photos)

While Kathy Griffin and NYC's Public Theater have been called out for imagining violent attacks on Donald Trump, conservative pundits and others made similar statements about Barack Obama and other Democrats during his presidency.
Fox/Twitter
Glenn Beck

In a 2009 Fox News broadcast, the conservative pundit joked about poisoning then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. During the bizarre skit, one of Beck's helpers attempted to sip a glass of red wine while wearing a mask of Pelosi's face. Beck then informs "Pelosi" that he slipped poison into her drink.

Also Read: Glenn Beck Doesn’t Regret ‘Jokes’ (video)
Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater

Minnesota's famed Guthrie Theater "assassinated" an Obama-like figure in its 2012 production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." Unlike the NYC Public Theater's Trump-themed assassination in 2017, this production saw no backlash or loss of corporate sponsorship.

Also Read: ‘Real Time’ Fact Check: How Liberals Really Reacted to Obama-Themed ‘Julius Caesar’
Joan Marcus
Shannon Richardson

Actress Shannon Richardson, who has appeared in "The Vampire Diaries" and "The Walking Dead," was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2014 for attempting to poison Barack Obama. According to CNN, Richardson mailed ricin-laced letters to Obama and several other politicians, because she was displeased with their stances on gun control.

Also Read: ‘Walking Dead’ Actress Who Sent Ricin to President Obama Gets 18 Years in Prison
CNN/Leslie Morris, Getty Images
Scott Stapp

The lead singer of Creed got himself in trouble in 2014 months after his release from a mental facility. According to 911 tapes obtained by TMZ, Stapp's then-wife told police that the rocker was in the middle of a psychotic episode and had threatened to kill President Obama. "He thinks they're trying to kill him, and he has a bunch of paperwork in his backpack that he's a CIA agent and he's supposed to assassinate Obama," she said. Stapp's episode later prompted a Secret Service investigation.
Engelke/Ullstein Bild/Getty Images/Billboard
Ted Nugent

To encourage a group of NRA convention attendees to vote for 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Nugent instructed them to "ride onto that battlefield and chop their heads off in November," the heads in question belonging to Democratic voters. At a 2007 concert, Nugent said Obama could "suck on [his] machine gun."

Also Read: Ted Nugent Promises to Stop ‘Hateful Rhetoric’ After Alexandria Shooting (Audio)
Getty Images
Joe Walsh

The former Illinois Congressman believed Barack Obama was responsible for the July 2016 shooting deaths of several Dallas police officers. He took to Twitter with a veiled threat on the then-president: "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you."
Twitter
Donald Trump

At a North Carolina rally in August 2016, Trump suggested that his gun-toting supporters could prevent Hillary Clinton from taking office if they exercised their 2nd Amendment rights. He said, "[If Hillary Clinton] gets to pick...her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."

Also Read: Donald Trump: ‘Second Amendment People’ Could Stop Hillary Clinton (Video)
Getty Images

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Remember Joe Walsh’s infamous ”Watch out, Obama. Real America is coming after you“ tweet?

While Kathy Griffin and NYC's Public Theater have been called out for imagining violent attacks on Donald Trump, conservative pundits and others made similar statements about Barack Obama and other Democrats during his presidency.

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7 Stars Who Imagined Violence Against Barack Obama, Democrats (Photos)

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