(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Former President Barack Obama refused to share a “Kumbaya” moment with Republicans across the aisle Thursday in Chicago, instead opting to accuse his political rivals of rigging elections.
The Democrat kingmaker took aim at the “doom loop” politicians use to portray their opponents as “enemies to be vanquished” during his keynote address at the Obama Foundation’s third annual Democracy Forum.
“There are going to be times, potentially, when one side tries to stack the deck and lock in…,” Obama began, taking a long pause, “…permanent grip on power.”
NEW: Obama says Republicans are the ones who rig elections and weaponize the justice system while speaking at a "Democracy Forum."
The comment was so outrageous that Obama could barely get the words out of his mouth.
"One side tries to stack the deck and lock in [very long… pic.twitter.com/LoKM5d7rjr
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 6, 2024
Borrowing the tactic of projection from Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, Obama suggested Republicans would actively suppress votes, politicize the armed forces or weaponize the Department of Justice against political opponents—all actions Democrats used during the current presidential term to prevent President-elect Donald Trump from winning.
“And in those circumstances, pluralism does not call for us to just stand back and say, ‘Well… I’m not sure that’s OK,’” Obama said. “In most circumstances, a line has been crossed, and we have to stand firm.”
Obama stoked fear that Trump and his allies would target critics, journalists and political rivals to keep power, rather than simply seeking justice for the abuses that have been heaped on critics of the current Biden administration.
He said pluralism—an apparent euphemism for the Left’s brand of identity politics—was “not about holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya’” but “about recognizing that any democratic power comes from forging alliances and building coalitions and making room in those coalitions, not only for the woke but also for the waking.”
At one point in his speech, Obama referenced questions he faced about his birth certificate and eligibility to be president.
“Building bridges may require you to deal with people who not only disagree with you, but do not respect you,” he said. “When I was president, there were times where, many times where I was negotiating with people who made it pretty clear they didn’t think I should be president… legally.”
Obama never offered a satisfactory explanation for why his first literary agency, Acton & Dystel, identified Kenya as his birthplace on a 1991 promotional pamphlet, which remained in their online biography of him until 2007. He has consistently refused calls to release his college transcripts, which would likely offer confirmation of whether he was attending school as an international student.
After future President Donald Trump forced the issue, Obama mysteriously furnished a long-form birth certificate more than two years into his presidency, prompting RINO Republicans like Mitt Romney and then-House Speaker John Boehner to declare that the matter had long been settled.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
