Trump's Social Media Posts Allegedly Led To An Arrest Near Obama's House

Former President Donald Trump made headlines by calling for a total do-over of the 2020 election. This single decision spiraled into a deadly riot in January 2021, later known as the Capitol insurrection, that claimed at least five lives. However, this didn't stop Trump from allegedly doxing fellow Former President Barack Obama just five months after the violent event took place.

According to a memo from federal prosecutors obtained by CNN, the controversial politician reportedly posted an address he claimed belonged to Obama on June 29, 2021. This address was allegedly shared on Truth Social and appeared in Iraq War veteran Taylor Taranto's feed. Taranto reposted the address and then wrote on Telegram: "We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta's and Obama's." The Navy vet then began live-streaming himself driving around the Kalorama neighborhood in Washington D.C., where Trump claimed Obama lived. 

During his livestream, Taranto stated that he was searching for "entrance points" to get a "good angle on a shot," per a detention memo obtained by HuffPost. However, when Taranto arrived in the neighborhood, Secret Service officers spotted, trailed, and apprehended him — though he tried to escape. Taranto was promptly captured as he'd been on their watchlist due to a standing warrant for his arrest regarding his alleged involvement in the Capitol riot.

Donald Trump's involvement in, and bold claim about, the Capitol riot is far from the only time he has encouraged violence on social media. On May 28, 2020, during his reelection campaign, the former president retweeted a post from Couy Griffin. Retweeting posts from Griffin, a county commissioner in New Mexico and an avid Trump supporter, wasn't out of the norm. However, he should have condemned Griffin's post in this instance since the Cowboys for Trump founder was recorded saying, "The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat" (via CBS News). 

Although Griffin later clarified, "I don't say that in the physical sense, and I can already see where the videos getting edited where it says I want to go murder Democrats. I say that in the political sense because the Democrat agenda and policy is anti-American right now," considering how violent American politics can be, most citizens expect their elected leaders to take a more peaceful stance, irrespective of political affiliation. Despite the angry responses to his post, Trump similarly commented on the violence in Minneapolis less than two days later, stating, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts," (via The Washington Post.)

In March 2017, shortly after winning the presidential election, Donald Trump posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, accusing Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. The former "Apprentice" host implied that it was done to dig up dirt on him and that nothing had been found. The day after Trump's tweets went out, then-White House spokesman Sean Spicer stated that the congressional intelligence committees were working to determine if Obama had abused his powers.

Soon after this, several sites falsely claimed that a warrant had been issued for the former president's arrest. The intense scrutiny surrounding the issue prompted Obama to release a statement through his spokesperson. "Neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen," they clarified (via Time). However, this didn't stop Trump from further asserting his claims through members of his own cabinet. Sarah Sanders claimed that Trump wasn't to blame, falsely claiming that the story had been reported elsewhere first. 

Similarly, Spicer further commented, "There is no question something happened. The question is, is it surveillance, is it a wiretap, or whatever?" (via The Guardian). When asked if he'd seen any evidence, Spicer said it wasn't something he would usually be privy to. According to Spicer, the alleged spying was done using British rather than American intelligence. In September 2017, the NSA and FBI Directors finally denied that there was any evidence to support Trump's claims.