r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • 1d ago

Soft Paywall Obama Breaks Silence on Trump’s ‘Unimaginable’ Presidency - “Imagine if I had done any of this,” the former two-term president said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obama-breaks-silence-on-trumps-unimaginable-presidency/
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u/Reasonable-Bus-2187 1d ago

Thanks, Obama,

for saying something

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u/glass_gravy 1d ago

Finally.

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u/SchroedingersSphere 1d ago edited 1d ago

Probably going to get downvoted for saying this, I understand wanting to step down from politics, but a lot of people looked to Obama for words of encouragement and it's a little disappointing how long it took him to stand up and say something. Especially since Obama is the only person that really terrifies Trump. He could have made a bigger impact by speaking up sooner. Either way, thanks Obama.

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u/TheMarkHasBeenMade America 1d ago

A bigger impact on who? The people who are all ready watching all this in horror? We know all ready. Barry saying something about it doesn’t change anything - no one who was on the fence or on the other side of it before is going to idly watch everything Trump has done without reaction but then all of a sudden have a “woke” moment because Obama spoke up about it.

Did anyone honestly believe Obama would do anything but condemn this massive crock of bullshit?

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u/SchroedingersSphere 1d ago edited 1d ago

Truthfully, this is all anecdotal. I live in the south, and there are a lot of people here who voted for Obama but not Biden. I don't understand their thought process, so don't ask why, but I've heard from multiple family members that they "just couldn't vote for that woman. I voted for Obama and I gave my vote to Trump this time. I'd vote for him if he ran against Trump in a third election." Pointing out that this violates the Constitution just makes them confused and mad.

The sad thing is, they say this with pride, like I should pat them on the head because they voted Democrat and Republican. Like they were neutral and not biased, therefore their opinion is more valid. I try not to fall into the trap of talking politics with them, but they voluntarily give me these details against my will.

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u/DEAD_VANDAL 1d ago

An unfortunate amount of Americans would legitimately rather a rapist pedophile as president instead of a woman.

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u/AlarmingAerie 1d ago

We all know that, it's baffling they tried running with a women again. The society clearly got even more sexists since Hillary.

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u/DEAD_VANDAL 1d ago

I think more than anything it was complacency, they wrongly assumed (as did a lot of people) that Trump was seen as such a joke that he didn’t stand a remote chance of winning again. I saw it the same way up until Election Day, cause it seemed genuinely unfathomable that any country could elect such a monster AGAIN.

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u/AlarmingAerie 1d ago

he was actually favorite to win entire time everywhere except reddit.

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u/sammythemc 1d ago

I live in the south, and there are a lot of people here who voted for Obama but not Biden. I don't understand their thought process, so don't ask why, but I've heard from multiple family members that they "just couldn't vote for that woman.

I think a lot of Americans judge their politicians on perceived "outsider" status. It's graded on a curve of course (Trump has been part of the establishment for years as a rich white guy real estate mogul, Obama gave the keynote address at the 2004 DNC so had a good amount of backing from the party), but for a lot of people who see the country as going downhill, they just look at politicians and vote for the one who seems the most iconoclastic. Hillary's status as the would-be first female president wasn't enough to overcome how she represented the business-as-usual establishment, so those Obama/Trump voters rejected her.

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u/IsaacAndTired 1d ago

Obama was pretty damn present on the campaign trail for an election that had nothing to do with him. I guess what I'd ask is, what are you trying to convey with this comment? Are you suggesting Obama could have done more to win over the votes of your family? If so, can you give a specific example of something he could have done?

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u/Imtherealwaffle 22h ago

I think its just a question of likeability / charisma. In completely opposite ways, both obama and trump had some kind of "star power" and popularity compared to other candidates. Someone like ron desantis or jd vance could do a 1:1 copy of trumps campaign and I would bet they wouldnt get nearly as many votes. Same thing for kamala compared to obama and to a lesser extent biden. They just weren't likeable enough to cultivate a big following.

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u/boli99 12h ago

I don't understand their thought process

they vote for people. celebrity status. shiny things.

they have no real interest on the issues or policies.