Barack Obama has shared his reasons for speaking out against Donald Trump and his administration after completing his presidency in 2017.
Initially, Obama’s plan was to step back from the public eye once his two terms as the 44th President of the United States concluded. However, he became an outspoken critic of Trump’s actions during both his first and second terms in office.
In the early days following Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, Obama was notably reserved. Yet, he later voiced his disapproval of Trump’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and has continued his critiques throughout Trump’s subsequent term.
Although Obama has indicated no intention of returning to the political arena, he recently expressed that he felt compelled to engage in the political discourse once more. This decision was driven by what he perceived as a lack of strong Democratic figures to effectively challenge Trump on various fronts.
Speaking on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, Obama stated, “I actually found myself drawn back in to day-to-day politics or commentary more than I wanted to.”
“There were a lot of terrific people who were doing good work, but, you know, we have this weird situation where you don’t have a designated person who’s speaking on behalf of the whole party,” he explained.
Obama added, “I thought I was going to be able to remove myself more from being out there in public and was going to be able to concentrate on what I really wanted to do, which was coach the next generation of leadership, [but] I kept on being asked to comment on news of the day.”
“That’s flattering and it’s an indication you’ve made a connection with people, but I tried to be a little bit disciplined about recognising I had to move onto a new phase,” Obama noted.
Recently, Obama has also critiqued Trump’s response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Kirk was fatally shot while delivering a speech at an event hosted by his organization, Turning Point USA, at Utah Valley University on September 10.
In a subsequent appearance in Pennsylvania, Obama spoke about the ‘political crisis’ facing the nation in the wake of Kirk’s assassination.
Following a transcript provided by CNN, Obama remarked, “Look, obviously I didn’t know Charlie Kirk. I was generally aware of some of his ideas. I think those ideas were wrong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy and that I mourn for him and his family.”