All posts tagged "obama"

'Powerful statement': Obama cites Charlie Kirk in new defense of Kimmel's free speech

President Barack Obama once again weighed in on Charlie Kirk and Jimmy Kimmel, this time citing a prominent conservative in his appeal for free speech.

Obama recently leveled Donald Trump's administration over what the former president called taking things to "a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.” MAGA immediately melted down over that.

But Obama wasn't done there. Late Thursday night, the ex-president took to X and wrote, "This commentary offers a clear, powerful statement of why freedom of speech is at the heart of democracy and must be defended, whether the speaker is Charlie Kirk or Jimmy Kimmel, MAGA supporters or MAGA opponents."

Obama then cited a report from The New York Times, called Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel and the Future of Free Speech in America, and added, "First there’s this piece by David French, who devoted much of his legal career to defending the First Amendment rights of conservative writers and scholars." That report is here.

Obama then said, "Second, it’s worth reading this excerpt from Frederick Douglass," and linked to Douglass' piece, A Plea for Free Speech in Boston (1860). You can read that here.

'The dominos are falling Hussein': Trump fans snap at Obama after Kimmel defense

A decision by former President Barack Obama to weigh in on the suspension of comedian Jimmy Kimmel by Disney/ABC sent supporters of Donald Trump into a blind rage on Thursday afternoon.

Posting on both X and Bluesky, the former president warned that the current administration is taking the country down a dangerous road by going after anyone who doesn’t toe the line on topics such as the death of far-right conservative Charlie Kirk, which has led to firings at all levels of society and the controversial silencing of comedian Kimmel that even has some execs at the Disney unsure about the move.

According to the former president, “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”

Those words set off a flurry of sneers and threats aimed at the only Black man who has served as a U.S. president.

Character actor Nick Searcy simply wrote, “Oh shut up.”

“You tried to put our guy in prison for 700 years and then assassinated one of the most moderate leaders in the political ecosystem,” MAGA influencer Gunther Eagleman wrote before threatening, “The dominos (sic)are falling Hussein, and if you're already sweating, just wait. It's going to get so much better.”

Attorney Rogan O’Handley who goes by DC Draino, complained, “You guys banned a sitting US President off all social media and had him arrested 4x when he ran for re-election.”

Former comedian Roseanne Barr asked, “Remember when you and your wife called Bob Iger to have me fired?” which led another X user to ask her, “Oh ..you mean when you compared Valerie Jarrett to an ape and then deleted the post. Everyone remembers that you racist hag,” to which she responded, “You probably still wear a mask in your car.”

“As someone who was kicked off Twitter for literally using the word ‘Benghazi,’ and someone your administration targeted with an IRS investigation for literally sitting in a desk serving my country — spare me your outrage, you hack. Now….Jimmy Boy lies to millions of Americans about a political assassination of an American on U.S. soil and you want to stop the whole world to defend this? Sit down,” raged author Sarah Adams.

Florida News asst news editor Eric Daugherty also fell back on the “Hussein” attack with, “Where were you when a sitting president was banned from the public town square on social media, Hussein? Where were you when Big Tech was routinely censoring and banning conservative media figures for years straight?”

Barack Obama levels Trump admin over its 'new and dangerous level' of coercion

The “indefinite” suspension of comedian Jimmy Kimmel by Disney/ABC led to an immediate response from former President Barack Obama on Thursday afternoon.

With political observers still trying to get a handle on where the Donald Trump administration will be taking the country after pressuring the corporations to suspend or fire employees who are critical of the administration by using the death of far-right extremist Charlie Kirk as a cudgel, Obama took to Bluesky to issue a warning.

Linking to a piece from Zack Beauchamp of Vox, who wrote, “The Trump administration, it appears, has learned to effectively weaponize the regulatory powers of the federal government to punish speech it doesn’t like from people it doesn’t like. This is a favored weapon of modern autocrats; its deployment against Kimmel is a qualitative escalation even above the administration’s previous acts of censorship (like targeting the author of a pro-Palestine op-ed for deportation),” Obama agreed.

Over two posts he wrote, “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it,” he then added.

'Out of view': Trump demands Obama portrait be moved to hidden stairwell

President Donald Trump has ordered the official White House portrait of former President Barack Obama to be relocated once again — this time to a "hidden" staircase out of view of visitors.

CNN reported on Sunday that Obama's portrait was moved to the Grand Staircase, along with the portraits of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

"Multiple sources have said that the president is directly involved with nearly everything that is done to the aesthetic of the White House, big or small," CNN noted. "That area is heavily restricted to members of the first family, US Secret Service agents, and a limited number of White House and executive residence staff. It is firmly out of view for any visitor hoping to see the photorealistic Robert McCurdy painting of the former president, a source familiar with the matter confirmed."

The moves were made despite White House protocol, which calls for the portraits of recent presidents to be prominently displayed.

Earlier this year, White House staffers replaced Obama's official portrait with a painting of Trump in the aftermath of an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. At the time, the painting of Obama was relocated to the Grand Foyer, according to reports.

'Thugs': Trump floats 'prosecuting Obama' as president spirals from latest scandal

Donald Trump on Saturday seemed to show enthusiasm for "prosecuting Obama" as the president is reeling from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

The president took to his own social media site over the weekend, first to pressure a GOP leader and then to highlight a Fox News panel all about the former president.

"Great job by young and talented Harrison Fields on FoxNews," Trump wrote. "The Panel was fantastic on prosecuting Obama and the 'thugs' who have just been unequivocally exposed on highest level Election Fraud."

Trump then added, "Congratulations to Tulsi Gabbard. Keep it coming!!!"

MAGA media voice Eric Daugherty chimed in, "BREAKING: President Trump just floated 'PROSECUTING OBAMA' and his 'thugs' '...who have just been unequivocally exposed on highest level Election Fraud.'"

Read the full post here.

'He knew what he was doing': Obama aide shuts down outraged conservative over Trump attack

Donald Trump's longest-serving chief of staff recently called his former boss a "fascist," and said Trump wished his generals were more like Adolf Hitler's generals, but one conservative analyst has had it with tying the former president's fans to Nazis.

Brendan Buck, a former key adviser to ex-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), appeared on MSNBC Saturday, where he spoke up about what he thinks is an unfair comparison regarding Trump. Buck, a conservative critic of the former president, said Hillary Clinton went too far when she compared Trump's upcoming rally at Madison Square Garden to a Nazi event.

"I do have to say, I find that Madison Square Garden conversation a bit silly," Buck said. "Look, what Hillary Clinton said there is completely obnoxious."

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Buck continued, saying, "I am as critical of Donald Trump as anybody but people going to Madison Square Garden that night are not gathering for a Nazi gathering. It is an arena."

"I don't think setting foot in Madison Square Garden makes anybody who goes there a Nazi," he added. "That is the kind of rhetoric that just tells people it doesn't matter. They are going to say anything they want. Now all of a sudden going to Madison Square Garden you are a Nazi. I can't tell you how much that upsets people who are on the fence on Donald Trump and say they are just out to get him and they will say anything. I don't know why it has to go that level."

After a short protest from the MSNBC show's host, Buck got louder.

"I don't think Madison Square Garden has anything different to do with the rally he is having right now as it relates to Nazism. What Hillary Clinton said is that people who gathered that day were there to pledge allegiance to Nazism and that's what's going to happen again at Madison Square Garden. That is so disrespectful to a lot of people, I don't support Donald trump, I think he's a bad guy, but people who go there are not pledging their support to Nazism, which is what Hillary Clinton said."

Former Obama campaign advisor Ameshia Cross, on the other hand, argued in response to Buck that Trump knows exactly what he's doing when he plans his events at famous sites of racist leaders.

"He knew what he was doing then," she said.

Watch below or click the link.

Trump claims 'I think Obama will be voting for me' after Pennsylvania Harris rally

Just one day after Barack Obama rallied in support of Vice President Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump declared the Democratic former president will be voting for him.

Trump, who has had a contentious relationship with Obama following Trump's decision to popularize "birther" arguments seen by many analysts as racist, took to Truth Social after Obama encouraged Black male voters to get behind the V.P.

"Obama admits a total lack of enthusiasm for Kamala, especially with Black Men," Trump wrote without pointing to any specific statements.

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Trump continued, "I think Obama will be voting for me because he doesn’t like the fact that Kamala is an extremely Low IQ Person!"

In a follow-up post, Trump argued that the V.P.'s "Border Invasion is killing the jobs of our Black and Hispanic populations."

"BAD NUMBERS, will only get worse!" Trump then added.

'And there it is!' Internet erupts as Obama endorses Kamala Harris for president

Former President Barack Obama and Former First Lady Michelle Obama both formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the next president early on Friday morning, leading to an eruption online from political onlookers on both sides of the aisle.

The 44th president posted a video of his wife and him calling to congratulate Harris and offer their "full support" for her new presidential candidacy. "Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend [Harris]. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support," Obama posted on X.

He added, "At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us."

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Online, the reactions came quickly, with many Democrats celebrating the endorsement that had previously been called into question by Donald Trump and others on the right.

Commentator Brian Tyler Cohen said, "And there it is. Kamala gets the Obama endorsement."

"We're not going back," Cohen added.

In a separate statement, Cohen wondered whether Trump will now agree to debate Harris, since the 45th president had used Obama's lack of endorsement as a reason to back out of a debate he previously agreed to when Joe Biden was the nominee.

"Remember how Trump used Obama as an excuse not to debate Kamala ('There is a strong sense by many in the Democrat Party - namely Barack Hussein Obama - that Kamala Harris is a Marxist fraud who cannot beat President Trump, and they are still holding out for someone 'better'.')? Cohen asked.

"Now that Obama endorsed Kamala, will Trump finally agree to debate Kamala, or was that just a desperate excuse he cooked up to cover for the fact that he's too chickenshit to get on stage with her?"

Cohen also asked if the New York Post reporters who previously said Obama might be hesitant to endorse Harris out of fear of her chances in the election are "embarrassed" about publishing their story just two days earlier.

"Maybe get better sources," the podcaster added.

Ed Krassenstein also brought up the report.

"It’s truly appalling that yesterday the NY Post published a seemingly dubious story claiming that Obama would not endorse Harris because he doesn't believe she can win," the commentator said. "This is a blatant falsehood."

Michelle Obama herself also weighed in separately from her husband.

"I’m so proud of my girl, Kamala. Barack and I are so excited to endorse her as the Democratic nominee because of her positivity, sense of humor, and ability to bring light and hope to people all across the country. We’ve got your back, [Harris]!"

On the right, some MAGA fans were upset.

Host Alex Stone said, "Cool! Trump 2024!" He also included a photo of when Trump raised his fist after a shooting at his Pennsylvania rally.

A Marjorie Taylor Greene fan page said, "Posting your 'Support' for Kamala really late/early hoping nobody would see."

"Looks like Obama was able to get Kamala to agree to be his puppet," the account added.

Trump supporter Victor Bigham had this to say:

"We knew democrats would cheat and look at this they are using George Soros money and many other donors donate to ActBlue. How do we stop this we can't they control everything and they are doing this right in front of our faces just like they installed Kamala a coup against a sitting president Biden. Half the republicans are Rinos bought and paid for. They hate Trump because he will put an end to all this corruption."

Barack and Michelle Obama offer 'full support' to make Kamala Harris president

Former President Barack Obama early on Friday morning gave a full endorsement to Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Obama says will be "a fantastic president."

Fellow former president Donald Trump's campaign on Thursday said Trump wouldn't agree to debate Harris yet, citing Obama's failure to fully endorse her as one of the reasons. This led to a CNN panel ridiculing Trump for backing out of a debate he had previously agreed to when Biden was the nominee.

Hours later, Obama made a new statement suggesting he already had endorsed the candidate "earlier this week."

ALSO READ: How much access did $50,000 buy someone at the Republican National Convention?

"Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend [Harris]. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support," Obama posted on X.

He then added, "At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us."

Obama included as proof a video of the phone call, which appeared to be initiated by Obama himself. Michelle Obama joins in a second later and says she is "proud" of her friend, Harris.

"This is going to be historic," Michelle says next.

Barack Obama then says the pair will do everything they can to get her "into the Oval Office."

"Thank you both. It means so much. And we're going to have some fun with this tomorrow, too, aren't we?" Harris asks them in the call.

Moments later, Harris herself posted the same video, saying, "It means so much to have your endorsements."

"Let’s get to work," the current vice president says.

There were previous reports suggesting that Obama was worried about Harris' chances in the general election and that he was hesitant to endorse her as a result.

Obama privately expresses concern to allies over Biden's poor debate performance: report

Former President Barack Obama has publicly backed his ex-vice president even after a "bad debate" night, but behind closed doors, Obama has reportedly expressed concerns that Joe Biden may have hurt his chances of winning re-election.

Obama told allies behind closed doors who reached out to him that Biden’s path to re-election became a tougher challenge following the debate against former President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported Tuesday night. The two reportedly talked over the phone following the disastrous night that left many openly questioning Biden's cognitive health and some calling for him to drop out of the race.

Biden on Tuesday admitted he put on a sleepy performance at the first debate of the year but the 81-year-old Democrat brushed it off, telling donors at a private fundraiser a tough travel schedule was to blame.

"I decided to travel around the world a couple of times ... shortly before the debate ... I didn't listen to my staff ... and then I almost fell asleep on stage," he said, according to Axios.

For his part, Obama on Friday said bad debate nights happen, acknowledging he, too, once flubbed a debate. "Trust me, I know," he said.

Obama continued, saying, "But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself."

"Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit," the former president said on Friday. "Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November."

The Washington Post's reporting, which cited several anonymous sources familiar with his comments, offers a stark contrast in the two sentiments from Obama, who offered to give Biden advice or lend an ear.

Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for the Biden campaign, told the Post in a statement that Biden is "grateful for President Obama’s unwavering support since the very start of this campaign." She said Obama has been a "powerful messenger to voters and a trusted adviser directly to the president."

A spokesperson for Obama declined to comment to the Post.

Obama's reported concerns come as Democratic governors seek answers from the White House about Biden's showing.

The governors took part Monday in a call organized by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to discuss their concerns about the 81-year-old president, according to multiple sources who spoke to CNN.

The call was attended by governors only, with no staffers, White House aides or campaign officials present, and sources said they expressed surprise that none of them had heard from the president following the debate.