Former President Barack Obama has issued a warning about the future of American democracy, cautioning that the country is “dangerously close” to normalizing behavior “consistent with autocracies.”
Speaking Tuesday night in Hartford, Connecticut, he offered thinly veiled criticism of President Donald Trump and questioned the administration’s commitment to democracy.
“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.
But if you want to deliver on change, then it’s a game of addition, not subtraction.
former president barack obama
“What we’re seeing right now … is not consistent with American democracy,” he added. “It is consistent with autocracies. It is consistent with Hungary under 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 there are checks and balances, and nobody’s above the law. We’re not there yet completely, but I think that we are dangerously close to normalizing behavior like that.”
Speaking just days after millions of Americans demonstrated against Trump in the nationwide “No Kings” protests, Obama praised the pushback from individuals outside of government, but stressed that elected officials need to do more to protect American institutions.
“There also has to be people in government in both parties who say, ‘Well, no, you can’t do that,’” the former president said.
The event marked a relatively rare public appearance for Obama, who has largely avoided the spotlight since leaving office. Last week, The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich criticized his low profile, writing that “the most effective communicator in the Democratic Party continues to opt for minimal communication.” Despite his concerns, the former president told the crowd he is still hopeful American democracy will prevail. He also offered advice to young people about how they can “deliver on change.” I’m still optimistic — I’m still the ‘hope’ guy. … I guess the thing when I’m talking to these young people, though, [what] they need to hear the most is: It is important to be impatient with injustice and cruelty, and there’s a healthy outrage that we should be exhibiting in terms of what’s currently happening both here and around the world. But if you want to deliver on change, then it’s a game of addition, not subtraction, which means 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. Obama said the only way to protect the future of democracy — and the United States — is for the American people to work together: When people actually meet and they get to know each other and then they work on a common endeavor, then what Lincoln called those ‘better angels’ come out. 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. “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.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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