Earlier today, former President Obama did what he does best and took the stage to lecture other people on the importance of leadership and personal responsibility. But don’t worry: He’s not looking to jump back into the political fray anytime soon. At least not according to his former press secretary and current MSNBC political analyst Josh Earnest.

As Earnest told Chris Jansing, Obama’s not going to get involved in politics again — unless it’s absolutely necessary:

Transcript:

Jansing: What do you think would motivate to get back involved in the public debate in a way he’s not willing to do right now?

Earnest: Well, Chris, after the last eight years, the president doesn’t relish the prospect of getting back into the day-to-day fights that characterize governing the United States of America in the 21st century. The president doesn’t have much interest in, you know, weighing in on the tax reform proposals that the Trump folks are promising to release later this week. He doesn’t have much of an interest in weighing in on what steps Republicans in Congress can take to keep the government open. He spent the last eight years doing it. It’s somebody else’s turn to do that now. I think what would motivate President Obama is if we saw the federal government start to cross some clear red lines in terms of long-observed norms and values that, frankly, I think that we’ve started to take for granted.

What was that about “red lines,” Josh?

Seriously. Earnest is nothing if not a colossal tool, but of all the phrasing to use, he went with “red lines”?

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Not your brightest moment, Josh. Not that there are a whole lot to choose from.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.

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Tags: Barack ObamaDonald TrumpJosh Earnestred linered lines