'Imagine if I had done any of this': Obama's reaction to Trump administration after tariff announcement

Former president Barack Obama Thursday said he has been watching the new administration of president Donald Trump for little bit and has not spoken publicly for quite a long time. In an on-stange interview at Hamilton College, Obama said he does not think Trump's new tariffs will be good for America but he said he is moe concerned with what he described as the White House's infringement of rights.
“So, this is the first time I’ve been speaking publicly for a while,” Obama said. “I’ve been watching for a little bit.” “Imagine if I had done any of this,” Obama said, later adding: “It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me, or a whole bunch of my predecessors.”
“I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” Obama told the crowd of college students.
“The idea that a White House can say to law firms, if you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively. Those kinds of – that kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”
Obama's comment on law firms referred to Trump's announcement of a deal with a law firm which agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services throughout his second term. Interestingly, Kamala Harris's husband Doug Emhoff works at the firm -- Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Kamala Harris too spoke up against the administration after her long absence. “Fear has a way of being contagious. When one person has fear, it has a way of spreading to those around them and spreading. And we are witnessing that, no doubt,” Harris said.
Prominent Democrat leaders mostly remained silent as they shifted their target on Elon Musk who recently suffered an embarrassing defeat as Brad Schimel, the candidate he backed, lost to Susan Crawford.