Did obama do a video about DJT and impeachment
Executive summary
Yes — former president Barack Obama did release a short video on the day the House impeached Donald Trump, but the recording was framed as a year‑end message of unity and highlights from 2019 rather than an explicit commentary on the impeachment itself; contemporary reporting describes the video as arriving alongside Trump’s furious social media response to the House vote [1].
1. What happened on impeachment day: a golf swing and a video
On December 18–19, 2019, as the House of Representatives moved forward with articles of impeachment against President Trump, Barack Obama was reported to be playing golf in Hawaii and simultaneously posted a video that media outlets characterized as evoking "a spirit of unity and hope" while showing highlights from 2019 — coverage that framed the clip as a year‑end reflection rather than a direct response to the impeachment proceedings [1].
2. How major outlets described the clip — unity, highlights, not an indictment
People magazine’s reporting explicitly emphasized the tone and content of Obama’s video: it showcased his 2019 highlights and promoted unity and hope, and the article contrasted that approach with Trump’s “rage‑tweeting” about the fairness of his impeachment — the implication in the reporting is that Obama’s message was aspirational and retrospective, not a legal or political attack aimed at the impeachment itself [1].
3. What the record does not show — no sourced claim that Obama’s video accused Trump of wrongdoing
Available reporting provided here does not document the video containing explicit claims about Donald Trump’s conduct or direct advocacy around the impeachment articles; the cited coverage frames it as a highlight/unity video coinciding with the House vote, and nothing in those snippets attributes to Obama a direct commentary on the substance of the impeachment or calls for conviction in the Senate [1]. This is a material limitation: absence of evidence in the supplied sources should not be read as proof Obama avoided any political subtext, only that the reporters cited described it in those terms [1].
4. Why observers read meaning into timing — context matters
Timing can create political meaning: outlets noted the video’s release came the same day Trump was publicly railing against the impeachment and golfing coverage noted the contrast in behavior; reporters often interpret such juxtapositions as commentary by context even when the speaker does not name the subject [1]. That interpretive framing is visible in the People article’s contrast between Obama’s conciliatory video and Trump’s social‑media fury [1].
5. Broader pattern of mutual public messaging between the two figures
The broader media record shows a history of reciprocal public targeting and counter‑targeting between Trump and Obama: archived reporting documents Trump repeatedly attacking Obama — including calls for impeachment of Obama resurfacing in later coverage — and Trump sharing videos accusing Obama of treason in different contexts, underscoring that both figures have been part of a continual public messaging warfare even when specific clips are not direct rebuttals [2] [3].
6. Bottom line and limits of the sources
Bottom line: Barack Obama did release a video on the day Donald Trump was impeached, and major reporting presented it as a unifying year‑end highlights message rather than an explicit commentary on Trump’s impeachment; the supplied sources do not substantiate claims that the video directly addressed or advocated a position on the impeachment articles themselves, and they do not include a transcript or full text of the clip that would allow definitive adjudication of its precise content [1]. Further verification would require the original video or a full transcript beyond the summarized reporting provided here.