Obama’s Stern Message To Democrats: “Stop Looking For The Messiah”

Former President Barack Obama didn’t mince words about what Democrats needed to do under Trump’s regime. During a speech he gave at a private fundraiser in New Jersey, Friday, the best president to ever sit in the White House told Dems that now is the time to “stand up for the things that you think are right.”

“I think it’s going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions. And it’s going to require Democrats to just toughen up,” Obama said during the private fundraiser hosted by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife, Tammy Murphy, at their Red Bank, New Jersey home, according to CNN.

“You know, don’t tell me you’re a Democrat, but you’re kind of disappointed right now, so you’re not doing anything. No, now is exactly the time that you get in there and do something,” he said, during the dinner, which raised some $2.5 million. 

“Don’t say that you care deeply about free speech and then you’re quiet. No, you stand up for free speech when it’s hard. When somebody says something that you don’t like, but you still say, ‘You know what, that person has the right to speak.’ … What’s needed now is courage.”

Obama’s comments come as the president continues to run roughshod over the country, while Democrats appear to be lost. Without control of the House or Senate, Democrats don’t seem to have a firm plan on how to move forward without congressional power. 

Obama told Democrats not to focus on who should lead the party, but to look at down ballot races during the off-year elections, which could be “a big jumpstart for where we need to go.”

“Stop looking for the quick fix. Stop looking for the messiah. You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates,” Obama said.

“Make sure that the DNC has what it needs to compete in what will be a more data-driven, more social media-driven cycle, which will cost some money and expertise and time,” he continued.

Obama added that disjointed messaging within the party wasn’t helping to “deliver for people.” 

“There’s been, I gather, some argument between the left of the party and people who are promoting the quote-unquote abundance agenda. Listen, those things are not contradictory. You want to deliver for people and make their lives better? You got to figure out how to do it,” he said.

“I don’t care how much you love working people. They can’t afford a house because all the rules in your state make it prohibitive to build. And zoning prevents multifamily structures because of NIMBY,” he said, referring to “not in my backyard” views, CNN reports. “I don’t want to know your ideology, because you can’t build anything. It does not matter.”

Obama, who has tried to stay out of the spotlight since Trump’s second term, did warn that the White House was moving “dangerously close” to autocracy.

On Friday, he added that he’s not been “surprised by what Trump’s done” or that the guardrails have fallen off the Republican Party. But added that pushback from institutions against draconian policies from the Trump administration is a must. 

“What’s being asked of us is make some effort to stand up for the things that you think are right. And be willing to be a little bit uncomfortable in defense of your values. And in defense of the country. And in defense of the world that you want to leave to your children and your grandchildren,” he said. “And if we all do that, if we do our jobs over the next year and a half, then I think we will rebuild momentum and we will position ourselves to get this country moving in the direction it should.”