Former President Obama argued in an interview published Saturday that American politics has become a \u201cclown show\u201d under the second Trump administration, suggesting that many Americans dislike the rhetoric coming out of the White House in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obama made the comparison while addressing a controversial video posted on President Trump\u2019s Truth Social account earlier this month that briefly depicted the former president and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, as apes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has refused to apologize for the video despite strong bipartisan backlash. Instead, the White House blamed a staffer for \u201cerroneously\u201d making the post, and it was taken down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,\u201d Obama told host Brian Tyler Cohen on his \u201cNo Lie\u201d podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cohen had asked how the country could bounce back from what he described as the \u201cde-evolution of discourse,\u201d pointing to the video and administration officials\u2019 labeling of two U.S. citizens who were fatally shot during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis as \u201cdomestic terrorists\u201d as examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obama proposed that while that kind of rhetoric successfully draws people\u2019s attention and serves as \u201cdistraction,\u201d most people \u201cstill believe in decency, courtesy, [and] kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this sort of clown show that\u2019s happening on social media and on television,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd what is true is that there doesn\u2019t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? So that\u2019s been lost,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former president pushed back against the notion that Republicans \u201csee what they want, and they just go after it,\u201d arguing that the GOP \u201chaven\u2019t actually codified or institutionalized anything\u201d other than the so-called One Big, Beautiful Bill since regaining control of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have poured a huge amount of money into ICE and their immigration agenda, and they\u2019ve cut taxes for really wealthy people, and now they\u2019re trying to unravel a bunch of rules and norms and laws that are already in place; that\u2019s an easier job,\u201d he said. \u201cI say that because we should accept the responsibility and the challenge that our job is going to be a little bit harder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged that there has been \u201csome unwillingness on the part of Democrats in the past to break down some of the institutional barriers for us getting stuff done,\u201d but cautioned against replicating Republicans\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want us to simply duplicate the behavior on the other side. I don\u2019t want us to have a slash and burn strategy where we don\u2019t care about rule of law, we don\u2019t care about some of the guardrails around our democracy. We start lying and having no regard for the truth, the way the other side seems to be comfortable with right now, because if that\u2019s how we fight, then we lose what we\u2019re fighting for,\u201d Obama said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former president also weighed in on the frustration from voters who feel Democrats are not doing enough to counter Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSometimes I think we\u2019re tough on Democrats,\u201d he said, before drawing a contrast between himself and the current president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I was President of the United States, I suppose I could have simply unilaterally ordered the military to go into some red state and harass and intimidate a governor there or cut off funding for states that didn\u2019t vote for me, I could have exercised that prerogative, but that is contrary to how I think our democracy is supposed to work, and I think we shouldn\u2019t get discouraged by the fact that we have a tougher job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n