Barack Obama has become quite the public figure in recent weeks and his visibility and comments are more prominent than ever since leaving the White House. The former 44th President of the United States said that slogans such as “Defund The Police” are turning off some voters but progressive voices who champion the saying are pushing back.
In a new video via Snapchat’s
Good Luck America program Tuesday (Dec. 1), Mr. Obama expressed his views of progressive activists using slogans to advance their policies.
“If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it’s not biased and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan, like ‘defund the police.’ But, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done,” Obama said to host Peter Hamby.
He added, “The key is deciding, do you want to actually get something done, or do you want to feel good among the people you already agree with? And if you want to get something done in a democracy, in a country as big and diverse as ours, then you’ve got to be able to meet people where they are. And play a game of addition and not subtraction.”
Mr. Obama’s stances were challenged by members of The Squad and many others via Twitter who believe that the critique from old-guard Democrats conflicts with the changing trends and tastes of today.
We’ve got some reactions from Twitter as well listed out below.
