Obama says Dems have ‘harder job’ because they’re not ‘mean, tough and nasty’

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Former President Barack Obama recently addressed differences between the Democratic and Republican parties during a conversation on Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast aired on Saturday, February 14.

He argued that Democrats have a more difficult political job compared to Republicans because of fundamental differences in how each views the role of government and political strategy. Obama also touched on recent Republican behavior and referenced a controversial social media post involving himself and his wife Michele Obama.

Obama on why Democrats have a 'Harder Job' than Republicans

Obama said Democrats have a “harder job” because they view government as a positive force that should be used to help people and improve society.

He explained that Democrats believe in using government to create more jobs, address climate change, ensure broad economic growth, and improve education, all while considering the consequences of their actions.

Obama contrasted this approach with what he described as the Republican focus on “tearing stuff down,” saying that Republicans do not have to deal with such complexities as building coalitions or passing legislation to achieve these goals.

During the discussion, Obama also highlighted that while in power, Republicans under President Donald Trump’s second term passed only one significant piece of legislation, referred to in the conversation as the One Big Beautiful Bill.

He claimed the party spent much of its time focusing on pouring large amounts of money into Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) and other issues important to their voters, which he said those actions could be "easily reversed."

Obama also agreed with the idea that Republicans aren’t as concerned with upholding longstanding political norms. At the same time, he emphasized that Democrats should not adopt extreme strategies in response.

He said he did not want Democrats to engage in a “slash and burn strategy where we don’t care about rule of law, we don’t care about some of the guardrails around our democracy.” 

Donald Trump prepared to speak with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Pope Army Airfield in Fort Bragg, North Carolina (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Obama’s example of Democratic restraint and response to GOP conduct

He continued, “We start lying and having no regard for the truth the way the other seems to be comfortable with right now. Because if that’s how we fight, then we lose what we’re fighting for. But that doesn’t mean we have to get punked or or be saps — or to cling to traditions just for the sake of tradition.”

In explaining what he meant by Democrats having a harder job, Obama gave a personal example from his time as president. He said that, "When I was president of the United States, I could have simply unilaterally ordered the military to, you know, go into some red state and, and harass and intimidate a governor there or cut off funding for states that didn’t vote for me."

He further stated, "I could have exercised that prerogative. That is contrary to how I think our democracy is supposed to work."

He acknowledged that sometimes Democrats face criticism from within their own party for not being “as mean, tough, and nasty” as Republicans. He said that criticism reflects pressure on Democrats to adopt harsher tactics when engaging in political battles.

In the same interview, Obama responded to a recent video posted by Trump that depicted him and Michelle as cartoon apes. He said that Trump’s conservative supporters did not seem to feel enough shame about the video.