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/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/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.