Free Republic

While speaking Tuesday at Rice University’s Baker Center with author Jon Meacham and former White House chief of staff, James Baker, former President Barack Obama discussed identity politics and its history regarding race in the United States. Obama said that America, particularly American elites, have had a history of “great smugness” when it comes to wealth and status, Partial transcript as follows: OBAMA: We did not adapt quickly enough to the fact that there were people being left behind. And that frustrations were going to flare up and that all of these changes that were happening were happening really quick,...

Former President Barack Obama on Monday endorsed dozens of Democrats in races across the country, including liberal darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her New York House race. Obama had left Ocasio-Cortez off his initial round of 81 endorsements over the summer, prompting speculation over why the ex-president had seemingly snubbed the Democratic socialist candidate who defeated House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in the primary and whose big-government views align with those of Sen. Bernie Sanders. However, on Monday, Obama included her name on the list of 260 endorsed candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House and state legislatures.

In an urgent and defining speech today, former President Barack Obama set himself up as a heavyweight counterpoint on the campaign trail to President Donald Trump -- as both men make plans to vigorously support their party’s candidates in the final two months of the midterm elections. Obama delivered his message at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus, and implored students to vote, saying that a look at recent headlines shows that "this moment is different.”

Warning that these are "extraordinary" and "dangerous" times, former President Barack Obama on Friday unleashed his most direct and forceful attack on President Donald Trump and said internal resistance in the administration is not the right way to stop him. During a speech at the University of Illinois, Obama slammed "crazy stuff" coming out of the Trump White House and blasted the president for trying to politicize the Justice Department.

Former President Obama on Friday lamented the state of politics today, calling out his successor, Donald Trump, by name as he started his push to ramp up Democratic energy for midterms. Mr. Obama made his return to the political arena by giving a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government. He praised America’s accomplishments but said there is a darker side to progress when politicians peddle resentment and mistrust to preserve the status quo. “It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause,”...