Former President Barack Obama took a swipe at America’s top law firms and elite universities last week, accusing them of caving to President Donald Trump and compromising their supposed values—all to protect their wealth and status.

Speaking at a high-dollar fundraiser in New Jersey, Obama lamented that elite lawyers were allegedly bowing to Trump not out of fear for their freedom, but to maintain their luxury lifestyles and high-end renovations.

“They’re not doing it because they’re going to be thrown in jail, but because they might lose a few clients and might not be able to finish that kitchen rehab at their Hampton house,” Obama scoffed, according to Business Insider.

“I’m not impressed,” he added, per MSNBC.

Ironically, Obama’s own career was built on his deep ties to Big Law. He interned at Sidley & Austin during law school and later worked at a Chicago-based firm specializing in civil rights litigation before entering politics. Now, he’s taking aim at those very institutions for their apparent willingness to comply with Trump administration directives.

Since February, President Donald Trump has taken bold action against law firms accused of politicizing the courts. His executive orders specifically named powerful outfits like Paul Weiss, Perkins Coie, and Covington & Burling for weaponizing legal tools to undermine his administration and the rule of law.

As a result, these firms have had their security clearances revoked and are now undergoing contract reviews. While some cooperated—agreeing to provide pro bono legal work to conservative causes—others filed lawsuits challenging the moves.

The message from the Trump White House was unmistakable: elite law firms that abused their influence under prior Democratic leadership would no longer enjoy privileged status under a government committed to law and order.

Obama also criticized leading universities for complying with Trump’s directives—specifically condemning his alma mater, Columbia University, for cooperating after facing a $400 million federal funding cut. The Trump administration justified the move by citing the university’s failure to rein in rampant anti-Semitism during pro-Hamas, anti-Israel protests.

Obama claimed that such compliance was a betrayal of academic independence, despite the fact that the university's inaction had put Jewish students at risk. “That’s why you have those big endowments,” he argued—seeming to imply that universities should prioritize political resistance over student safety or federal accountability.

In a separate appearance last month at The Connecticut Forum, Obama continued to peddle the tired claim that President Trump poses an “autocratic” threat to the nation. “We’re not there yet completely, but I think that we are dangerously close to normalizing behavior like that,” Obama warned.

Meanwhile, the real normalization of unaccountable power was on full display in the final hours of Joe Biden’s presidency—when he signed off on the largest single-day mass clemency act in U.S. history… using a machine.

Biden and his aides admitted in a New York Times interview that the president did not personally review the 1,500+ individuals granted clemency. Instead, the administration created “criteria,” and then used an autopen to stamp Biden’s signature on the sweeping measures.

“We’re talking about [granting clemency to] a whole lot of people,” Biden told the Times, adding that he made every decision—but did not approve each case individually.

Republicans have slammed the move, calling it a clear abdication of presidential responsibility. The autopen revelation only confirms what many already suspected: Biden’s White House was on autopilot, even in its final acts of so-called mercy.

Obama’s attacks on elite law firms and universities reveal the panic setting in among the Left’s ruling class. Trump’s second-term efforts to clean house—from holding weaponized law firms accountable to defunding anti-Semitic academic institutions—are striking at the heart of the Democrat establishment’s power structure.

And while Obama lectures lawyers from the safety of a New Jersey mansion, and Biden grants mass clemency by machine, President Trump continues to dismantle the status quo—proving once again that the America First agenda has the swamp running scared.