Obama Slams 'Crazy Stuff' Coming out Of Trump White House, Hits Politicizing of Justice Department.

Saying these are "extraordinary" and "dangerous" times," former President Barack Obama on Friday launched his most direct and forceful attack on President Donald Trump and said internal resistance in the administration is not the right way to stop him.

During a speech at the University of Illinois, Obama slammed the "crazy stuff" coming out of the Trump White House and blasted the president for politicizing the Justice Department.

"It should not be a partisan issue to say that we do not pressure the attorney general or the FBI to use the criminal justice system as a cudgel to punish our political opponents," Obama added, referring to tweets from Trump criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions for prosecuting two GOP congressmen.

And Obama took Republicans in Congress to task for being "utterly unwilling to find the backbone to safeguard the institutions that make our democracy work." Even Republicans "who know better," Obama said, "are still bending over backwards" to protect Trump.

"You happen to be coming of age during one of those moments," Obama said. "It did not start with Donald Trump, he is a symptom, not the cause. He is just capitalizing on resentment that politicians have fanning for years. A fear, an anger that is rooted in our past but is also borne in our enormous upheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes. This is not normal," Obama continued. “How hard can that be, saying that Nazis are bad?!"

The speech marked a return to politics for the former president and the kickoff of his midterm election push for Democrats. Obama has kept an intentionally low profile since since Trump's inauguration and the speech were some his toughest words against the administration.