Former President Obama privately remarked to a group of reporters in his final days in office that while the country would be fine with former President Trump serving one term, eight years would be an issue.
Concerned about the ongoing erosion of democratic norms, Obama was overheard remarking that the country could leave quickly enough to be okay.
“I think four years is OK. take on some water, but we can kind of bail fast enough to be OK. Eight years would be a problem. I would be concerned about a sustained period in which some of these norms have broken down and started to corrode.”
Obama warned that Trump wouldn’t uphold what Democrats had previously achieved, such as the Affordable Care Act and his administration’s climate initiatives, in an off-the-record chat with reporters on January 17, 2021.
The former president also warned the journalists that they would need to pay close attention when covering Trump and that the voters did not trust the media.
“I think if you’re jumping after every insult or terrible thing or a bit of rudeness that he’s doing and just chasing that, I think there’s a little bit of a three-card Monte there that you have to be careful about… I think you have to focus on a couple of things that are important and just stay on them and drive them home.”
Obama asserted that Trump will undermine our democracy if given the chance.
Obama called Trump a racist, sexist pig and a crazy, among other expletives, in his description of him.
Obama also asserted that Republicans were acting without shame, whereas Democrats did not.
