If the poster has said "he-who-will-not-be-named", I'd be there right with you and say it was silly. But they just did not do that, that is something you have made happen in your head.

"former president" is perfectly fine. As is "last president", or "trump", or whatever. I think the point wasn't about the specific person who had said those things so much about general level of political discourse in US around this subject...