Barack Obama has issued a warning, claiming that the US is in danger under the leadership of Donald Trump.
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Speaking Tuesday night at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford, Connecticut, Obama criticized current federal government policies amidst heated national debate over immigration raids and deportations.
He began by sounding the alarm over a disturbing erosion in America's commitment to democratic norms.
“If you follow regularly what is said by those who are in charge of the federal government right now, there is a weak commitment to what we understood – and not just my generation, at least since World War II – our understanding of how a liberal democracy is supposed to work,” Obama said, according to Connecticut Public Radio.
He emphasized the importance of resistance from both civil society and government insiders.
“There has to be a response and pushback from civil society, from various institutions and individuals outside of government, but there also have to be people in government in both parties who say, 'No, you can't do that,’” he added.
“It is consistent with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. It’s consistent with places that hold elections but do not otherwise observe what we think of as a fair system in which everybody’s voice matters and people have a seat at the table and nobody's above the law,” Obama warned, cautioning that America, while not fully authoritarian, is veering in a dangerous direction.
“We're not there yet completely, but I think that we are dangerously close to normalizing behavior like that.”
A key concern for Obama was the growing divide over truth itself. “In 2020, one person won the election, and it wasn’t the guy complaining about it,” he reminded, referring to President Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
“And that's just a fact, just like my inauguration had more people... I don’t care, but facts are important.”
He further noted the peril when partisans cling to falsehoods regardless of evidence: “In one of our major political parties, you have a whole bunch of people who know that's not true but will pretend like it is. And that is dangerous.”
This pointed critique echoed earlier controversies, such as when Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, claimed his inauguration had “the largest crowd in history,” despite clear photographic and empirical evidence to the contrary, per the Independent.
Pressed on how to maintain optimism amid rising political tensions, Obama countered with a note of hope.
“I’m still optimistic – I’m still the ‘hope’ guy,” he said. Highlighting the need for collective action, he urged Americans to be “impatient with injustice and cruelty,” but also to build alliances and coalitions: “If you want to deliver on change, then it’s a game of addition, not subtraction,” he advised.
“You have to find ways to make common ground with people who don’t agree with you on everything but agree with you on some things.”
He drew on Abraham Lincoln’s ideas to underscore the redemptive power of empathy: “When people actually meet and get to know each other... what Lincoln called those ‘better angels’ come out,” Obama said.
“People start recognizing themselves in each other and they start trusting each other, and that's not just the basis for democracy, but that's the basis for our long‑term salvation.”