In The News
from CNBC
President Donald Trump's claims that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower on the eve of the election are "destructive to our democracy," former U.S. diplomat Nicholas Burns said on Monday.
"I think you have to worry about a president who cast these wild accusations that I think will be a threat to our democracy, the way people feel, [and] the trust they have in their government or the former president," Burns said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
The former U.S. ambassador to NATO, who also served as undersecretary of State for political affairs during President George W. Bush's administration, said the accusations are "not grounded in fact." He said they pointed to the fact that Trump did not consult intelligence officials before posting the allegations on Twitter.
"If you read the press, The [New York] Times, The Wall Street Journal this morning, the FBI director doesn't agree with that, the former director of national intelligence doesn't agree with that," Burns said.
Instead, the president appears to have sourced the information from right-wing media reports, Burns said. Trump did not reveal his sources, and the White House says there will be no further comment.
"These are among the most incendiary charges ever made in the history of our country by one president against one of his predecessors, and I think they're destructive to our democracy," said Burns.
Burns, who is now a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School, predicted that Trump's charges would be quickly dismissed if investigated because they don't seem to be true.