Obama Says the Nation Is in a 'Political Crisis'

[applegrove]

Obama Says the Nation Is in a ‘Political Crisis’

September 17, 2025 at 6:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 97 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2025/09/17/obama-says-the-nation-is-in-a-political-crisis/

“Former President Barack Obama suggested on Tuesday that President Trump and his allies were using the assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk to stoke division and silence debate about Mr. Kirk’s ideas,” the New York Times reports.

Said Obama: “When I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents ‘vermin,’ enemies who need to be ‘targeted,’ that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now, and something that we’re going to have to grapple with — all of us.”

“Drawing more of a contrast with Mr. Trump, he referred to his own presidency and to past Republican leaders he said had believed in unifying a fractious country.”

He added: “I think George W. Bush believed that. I believe that people who I ran against — I know John McCain believed it. I know Mitt Romney believed it. What I’m describing is not a Democratic value or Republican value. It is an American value. And I think at moments like this, when tensions are high, then part of the job of the president is to pull people together.”

[maxsolomon]

1. Obama is entirely too reasonable.

I wish he was angrier but that's how he's always going to play it.