Remember when Barack Obama could fill arenas almost in Trumpian fashion?
That is not the case in 2024.
Has the former president lost his mojo? Or is he just stuck with a candidate who just saps the mojo right out of him? Or both?
While campaigning for Kamala Harris earlier this month in Pittsburgh, Obama lectured black men for their lack of enthusiasm for the Democrat candidate who was installed after party power brokers decided Joe Biden was not fit to continue.
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“You're thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that's a sign of strength, because that's what being a man is?” Obama said. “Putting women down?” he asked, adding that “it is not acceptable.”
Vernon Jones, a former Georgia state representative, took to social media to state that Obama “berated black men, he rebuked black men, he even scolded black men” for not supporting “madam lock-up-a-brother Kamala Harris” in the 2024 presidential race.
An MSNBC "reporter" seemed shocked that black men would criticize Obama:
WATCH: A Philadelphia black man stunned MSNBC, saying he was deeply OFFENDED when Barack Obama tried to racially blackmail other black men into voting for Kamala Harris
"The general tone of it was disgusting. It was abhorrent. I didn't respect it. I like nothing about it." The… pic.twitter.com/UM8diFV3tt — George (@BehizyTweets) October 23, 2024
As it turns out, "black men don't appreciate being lectured by a former POC president who did nothing for them and now lives among a bunch of wealthy white people on Martha’s Vineyard," Revolver News noted.
Many young black voters have little to no memory of Obama’s presidency but recall President Donald Trump's White House which delivered record-low black unemployment, federal support for historically black colleges and universities, reduced crime and taxes, and his signing of the criminal justice reform law.
"Although Trump is a billionaire businessman, some black voters see Obama, a multimillionaire who owns three mansions and hobnobs with the ultrarich and Hollywood celebrities, as more of an elitist," Susan Ferrechio wrote for The Washington Times on Thursday. "These voters, particularly black men, say they aren’t swayed by Obama and resented his admonishment this month of 'the brothers' for refusing to unite behind Harris.
“People are slowly pushing away the identity of skin color, especially in leadership roles,” said Bruce LaVell, an Atlanta-based senior Trump campaign surrogate who directed the Trump 2016 campaign’s National Diversity Coalition. “That is why the Democratic Party knows that the base is threatened. A lot of those folks in black culture are getting away from identity politics and want someone to just go and do the damn job.”
Polls indicate Trump could win double-digit support from black voters and capture the largest percentage of any Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1960.
On Thursday, Obama dragged ancient woke pop star Bruce Springsteen along with him to stump for Harris.
Springsteen in 2016 played at Philadelphia's Independence Hall for another Democrat presidential candidate. How'd that turn out?
Obama's "once larger-than-life persona is fading fast—he’s now just a shadow of the political star he used to be," Revolver News noted. "One thing is certain: Barack Obama doesn’t have staying power. Once the PR teams and the media pack up and move on, he starts withering like a dusty old houseplant desperate for water. As Barry scratches and claws to keep some semblance of power, his desperation is becoming painfully obvious, and he’s coming off as needy and wildly frantic. His reputation has also taken a serious hit after he endorsed a dementia patient and a DEI diva. These questionable moves really call into question Obama’s so-called leadership skills and his terrible decision-making."
So this is how Obama ends pic.twitter.com/1FU7sY3p2Q
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 23, 2024