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White House responds to Bush and Obama criticising the state of the US: They weren't talking about Trump


White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama weren't criticising Donald Trump in their Thursday comments.
She was asked repeatedly about what the two presidents said.
Both Bush and Obama made waves on Thursday after they lambasted the state of US politics.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at Friday's press briefing that recent criticism from Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama was not directed at President Donald Trump.


Both Bush and Obama lambasted US political culture in separate Thursday speeches, drawing in plenty of attention despite the fact that neither mentioned Trump by name.

Sanders was first asked about the comments from the past two presidents when a reporter mentioned a comment Bush made at his Thursday speech about how "bigotry seems emboldened" and "our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication."

Sanders, seizing on the last half of the statement, blamed the press for that sentiment.

"I think if anybody is pushing a lot of fabricated things right now, it's coming from the news media," she said. "And we would certainly agree with that sentiment."

"What about the bigotry?" another reporter shouted out. Sanders, however, did not answer, instead saying she already called on another reporter.

The speeches were brought up later in the briefing as well, when a reporter asked when Bush and Trump last spoke.

"I'm not sure the last time he spoke to President Bush," Sanders said. "But it's our understanding that those comments were not directed towards the president. And in fact, when these two individuals, both past presidents, have criticised the president, they have done so by name and very rarely do it without being pretty direct as both of them tend to be, so we will take them at their word that these actions and comments were not directed towards the president."

The pair of presidents made their comments at two Thursday events separated by less than 20 miles. First was Bush, the most recent former Republican president. He blasted the state of US politics in his most pointed commentary since Trump took office in January.

"In recent decades, public confidence in our institutions has declined," the 43rd president said at an event in New York hosted by his namesake institute. "Our governing class has often been paralysed in the face of obvious and pressing needs. The American dream of upward mobility seems out of reach for some who feel left behind in a changing economy. Discontent deepened and sharpened partisan conflicts. Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication."

Later that day, in nearby Newark, New Jersey, Obama hit the campaign trail for the first time since leaving office, criticising the "politics of division" that "we see now."

"What we can't have is the same old politics of division that we have seen so many times before that dates back centuries," Obama said at an event for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy in New Jersey. "Some of the things we see now, we thought we put that to bed. That's folks looking 50 years back. It's the 21st century, not the 19th century."

It's long-standing tradition for past presidents and vice presidents to provide a grace period for a new administration, during which they do not provide commentary critical of the current White House. While both Bush and Obama did not mention Trump, the criticism of US politics from both men is unprecedented at this young stage of a presidency.

It is rare for former presidents to criticise an administration at any point, even past the so-called grace period.

'Your mum is going to get f***ing raped today': Police investigating claims Salim Mehajer threatened custom car mechanic in vile abusive phone call

Disgraced businessman Salim Mehajer threatens to rape a man in leaked call
Mehajer allegedly made the threats to staff at a vehicle repair shop in Sydney
'Your mum's going to get f****** raped today you f****** dog,' he reportedly said
Bankstown detectives are investigating the recording after it leaked on Tuesday

Disgraced businessman Salim Mehajer has allegedly threatened to rape a custom car mechanic in a vicious and expletive-ridden phone recording.

Police are investigating after a man, reportedly Mehajer, was recorded making disgusting threats to a staff member at Queen St Customs, a vehicle repair shop in Revesby, in Sydney's west.

'You f****** Shia dog, I'm going to f****** rape you,' the man on the phone can be heard saying.

Threats were also made to rape the mechanic's mother in the recording which was leaked bySeven News on Tuesday.

'Your mum's going to get f****** raped today you f****** dog.'

In the tirade of abuse, derogatory comments were also made about the man's religion, Shia Islam.

'I'm going to rape your mum and your dad': Salim Mehajer's...

'You're a Shia dog, you mother*****,' were heard on the recording.

The recording is now being investigated by Bankstown detectives.

Detectives reportedly questioned witnesses to the abusive phone call on Tuesday.

The victim of the verbal abuse told Seven News he did not want to be identified.

He also said he was surprised the phone call was leaked and did not know how the police obtained a recording.

Mehajer is no stranger to allegations of abusive tirades.

In 2016 Mehajer filmed himself threatening to rape the parents of his estranged wife Aysha in a shocking video message filmed after the pair separated.

'Aysha, you've got five minutes to give me a call… I'm going to rape your mum. Your mum and your f****** dad,' Mehajer said.

In the confronting video, Mehajer also told his estranged wife 'I hoope you die you f****** sl**'.

The video was reportedly sent to Aysha after the former beauty therapist moved out of Mehajer's home in 2016.

Salim Mehajer's shocking threats to wife Aysha and her parents

Mehajer was rushed to hospital last Monday after he crashed his car on his way to court.

He failed to show up to two separate hearings last week on medical grounds, with a spokesman for Mehajer slamming claims the accident was staged as 'evil' and 'ludicrous'.

He appeared in court on Tuesday over a civil dispute related to a land transaction.

In September 2015, Salim Mehajer was also accused of making vicious threats to a man at his gym.

Mehejar reportedly threatened to kidnap Lindt siege survivor Joel Herat after an incident with Mr Herat's father Bruce at a gym in Burwood, Sydney's inner-west.

Mr Herat told a Burwood court Mehajer told him 'I'm going to find where you live motherf***** and I'm going to kidnap your children'.

Mehajer was not convicted, telling the judge 'those certain words don't exist in my vocabulary'.

All Japanese Day & Classic Day (Brisbane) Japanese Vehicle Shows
13 hrs · Brisbane, QLD ·
Ok people the dates for next years shows are as follows

ALL JAPANESE CLASSIC DAY 4th February 2018

ALL JAPANESE DAY 10th June 2018

Lock these days in going to be big days.

Yes, hope to be there early this time

Moving to Europe is slowly becoming a reality. Lets hope the process is a little quicker than what it is now.

Man, Shibuya Halloween goes OFF.

Europe sounds good, although it's a bit unsettled there atm with all the new immigrants. Where were you planning on settling?

Amazon in early talks for Lord of the Rings TV Series

Variety reports that Warner Bros. and The Tolkein estate have been quietly shopping around a television series based on J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings book series and after interest from multiple parties, Amazon has emerged as the front runner for the series’ home. The outlet notes that no deal has been set and that talks are still early; however, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is reportedly “personally involved in the negotiations” for the series.

Though fans will likely scratch their heads at another adaptation of the property so soon after Peter Jackson’s beloved film trilogy, HBO’s Game of Thrones is set to conclude in the coming years and with it leave a giant hole in television programming that The Lord of the Rings could surely fill. Amazon has also been eager to shift their programming slate away from smaller, niche programming and more towards large-scale shows that could have international appeal, another checked box for the Tolkein series.

The Lord of the Rings was first published over the course of a year from July 1954 to October 1955 and would go on to become one of the best-selling novels ever written. Filmmaker Peter Jackson adapted the series into three feature films released in 2001, 2002, and 2003, which combined would go on to gross over $2.9 billion with 30 Academy Award nominations between the three films and 17 wins; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Director and Best Picture. Jackson would go on to adapt Tolkein’s The Hobbit as three feature films, released in 2012, 2013, and 2014, which would have a combined worldwide box office gross that matched The Lord of the Rings. The six films combined have brought in $5.8 billion at the global box office.