Former US President Barack Obama has received online death threats and calls for imprisonment after incumbent US President Donald Trump and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused him of treason related to alleged Russian influence in the past presidential elections.

According to a report by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE), online comments calling for Obama’s imprisonment or execution surged between July 17–20, after the Trump administration claimed that key information about Russia’s alleged involvement in the 2016 election was "manipulated and withheld," an accusation Obama has denied.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Gabbard stated, "The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly points to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment [from January 2017]. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact."

"The President believes that this matter needs to be thoroughly investigated, and anyone convicted of a crime should be held accountable in this country," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said.

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100 pages of declassified documents released

The remarks followed the release of more than 100 pages of declassified documents, which, according to Gabbard, expose internal coordination among senior Obama-era officials to selectively construct a narrative around Russian meddling. She claimed intelligence agencies were pressured to shift their assessments, with particular reliance on the now-discredited Steele dossier, to frame the Trump campaign as complicit in foreign interference.

Trump posted an AI-generated video showing Obama being arrested and imprisoned.

Following this, between July 17–20, researchers noted a spike in targeted comments against Obama across platforms like Truth Social, Gab, and Telegram.

On Truth Social, comments labeling Obama a traitor deserving prison or death rose from 3 to 36 — a 1100% increase. On Gab, such comments jumped from 9 to 48 (a 433% increase), while Telegram saw a rise from 0 to 12.

GPAHE told Newsweek that its research "continues to show a spike in online bigoted and violent rhetoric whenever the president targets people with his online posts. The combination of Director Gabbard's and President Trump's conspiracy-laden and racist posts not only inflamed extremists but further normalized language and ideas that are completely unacceptable in a thriving democracy. We, as a nation, cannot contribute to this normalization by staying silent."