On his last day in office in January 2021, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, Kilpatrick thanked Trump and he called out former President Barack Obama for leaving him to rot in prison.
In a “Throwback Thursday” post, Kilpatrick thanked Trump for giving him his freedom. But Kilpatrick expressed his disappointment in Obama for leaving him in prison.
“I thought we were real cool,” Kilpatrick said in his post.
“But he sure left me locked up in that cell. THINGS DONE CHANGED! It’s cool… it was meat for the Master’s use. The Lord moved President Trump’s heart. And now God gets ALL the glory. THANK YOU LORD!”
Kilpatrick’s followers called the post “unnecessary”. They urged him to count his blessings that he received a new lease on life after breaking the law multiple times.
One person wrote:
“Thumbs down to this unnecessary post. You know good and well why he couldn’t pardon you. Plus God was not done working on you, so honor that instead of trying to bring Obama down and stir up drama.”
Another follower wrote: “Happy to see you’re home. But this ain’t it Kwame.”
A third person wrote:
“You have to know that [Donald Trump’s] pardon was a political move. He can do that and get away with it, Obama can’t. Why even put Obama in a position like that? You’re out now, God put you in there to humble you. You was doing too much. Take accountability and move on.”
In September 2008, Kilpatrick, a former attorney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was released on probation after serving 99 days in jail.
In May 2010, Kilpatrick was sentenced to eighteen months to 5 years in state prison for violating his probation.
In March 2013, he was convicted of 24 federal felony counts, and sentenced to 28 years in federal prison in Oklahoma.
Kilpatrick languished in prison for 8 years until President Trump commuted his sentence.
