On Tuesday, during a meeting at the White House with the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, US president Donald Trump launched an incendiary attack on one of his predecessors, Barack Obama.

In a fluent speech he accused Obama of “treason” and “sedition”.

No evidence was given and the“papers” he mentioned seemed to refer to last week’s report from Tulsi Gabbard, his national security director, on the 2016 election that claimed to show “a treasonous conspiracy” with Russia to fix the election against Trump.

Trump has frequently attacked his political opponents, regularly mentioning “Sleepy Joe Biden” and “Lying Hillary Clinton”. But is this different? And why now? Might it be another diversionary tactic to take the focus of the so-called Epstein files, as the controversy around their release – or even existence – shows no sign of calming? And what has Obama said?

Scott Lucas, political analyst and professor at UCD’s Clinton Institute, explains.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

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