USA Obama Warns U.S. Teeters on Edge of Autocracy While Urging Hope and Civic Unity

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Obama Warns U.S. Teeters on Edge of Autocracy While Urging Hope and Civic Unity

 

Former President Barack Obama has voiced grave concerns about the direction of American democracy, warning that the country is “dangerously close to normalizing behavior” characteristic of authoritarian regimes. Speaking at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford, Connecticut, Obama, 63, acknowledged the growing disillusionment among Americans as protests flare across the country in response to federal immigration crackdowns.

 

“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, according to Connecticut Public Radio. “There has to be a response and pushback from civil society, from various institutions and individuals outside of government, but there also have to be people in government in both parties who say, ‘No, you can't do that,’” he added.

 

In one of his starkest warnings yet, Obama stated, “What we're seeing right now… is not consistent with American democracy. It is consistent with autocracies.” He specifically cited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s regime as an example, saying, “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 nobody's above the law. We're not there yet completely, but I think that we are dangerously close to normalizing behavior like that.”

 

Obama also pointed to the widening gap between fact and fiction in American politics, especially within one of the major parties. “In 2020, one person won the election, and it wasn’t the guy complaining about it,” he said in reference to President Donald Trump’s repeated and disproven claims of election fraud. “And that's just a fact, just like my inauguration had more people... I don’t care, but facts are important.”

 

He criticized those who knowingly perpetuate falsehoods, saying, “In one of our major political parties, you have a whole bunch of people who know that's not true but will pretend like it is. And that is dangerous.” Obama referenced Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, who notoriously insisted that Trump’s inauguration crowd was the largest in history, despite clear photographic evidence to the contrary.

 

Despite the serious tone of his remarks, Obama maintained his trademark optimism, especially when addressing younger generations. When asked what message he had for young people, he replied, “I’m still optimistic – I’m still the ‘hope’ guy.” He urged the audience to be passionate but pragmatic.

 

“You have to be impatient with injustice and cruelty, and there’s a healthy outrage 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. 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.”

 

He closed his appearance on a hopeful note about the power of human connection. “When people actually meet and get to know each other... what Lincoln called those ‘better angels’ come out,” he said. “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.”

 

Obama also took to social media earlier in the week to remind Americans of his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, as the Trump administration’s immigration raids escalate. “Thirteen years ago, my administration acted to protect young people who were American in every single way but one: on paper,” he wrote on X. “DACA was an example of how we can be a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. And it’s an example worth remembering today, when families with similar backgrounds who just want to live, work, and support their communities, are being demonized and treated as enemies.”

 

“We can fix our broken immigration system while still recognizing our common humanity and treating each other with dignity and respect. In fact, it’s the only way we ever will,” he added.

 

Yet critics often point to Obama’s own record on immigration enforcement, noting that in 2013 alone, his administration deported 438,421 people — a figure unmatched by any other president since.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Independent  2025-06-20

 

 

[Tug]

Any lucid American of any political party should be gravely concerned for out democracy.

[mogandave]

I think Obama has done enough to ruin the country. 

 

He’s just another has-been leftist buffoon trying to stay relevant. 

[mogandave]

7 hours ago, Tug said:

Any lucid American of any political party should be gravely concerned for out democracy.

I’m very concerned, I the left takes the house in the midterms and the White House in 28, it will greatly harm our democracy.