Barack Obama calls the US government’s behavior a “clown show”.Image: keystone
After a racist video from the White House of Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, the ex-president spoke out publicly for the first time.
02/15/2026, 08:2202/15/2026, 08:22
Former US President Barack Obama has sharply criticized the current White House official, Donald Trump. Referring to Trump’s actions against ICE immigration agents and the National Guard in cities like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago, Obama said in an interview with YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen: This is “contrary to how I think our democracy should work.”
Trump’s government recently withdrew the units after violent protests. Nevertheless, Obama sees the USA in a critical condition. The former US president said he believes that the majority of the US population does not agree with Trump’s political style and approach.
Obama criticizes US President Donald Trump
While the former US President did not mention the video at all, Obama’s criticism was aimed at the politics, rhetoric and, above all, the staging with which Trump portrays himself in public.
Obama was particularly critical of Trump’s Internet presence: Despite “this kind of clown show,” the majority of the US population “still believes in decency, politeness and friendliness.”
Denigration of the Obamas: Excitement over Trump’s monkey video
Trump recently caused a stir with a racist post that depicted Obama and his wife Michelle as monkeys. The post was later deleted, but Trump refused to apologize for the mistake.
This is the most racist thing he has ever seen from this White House, wrote black Republican Senator Tim Scott on When asked about this, he told journalists: “No, I didn’t make a mistake.”
Obama looks ahead to the November midterm elections
Obama also did not address the incident during the interview. However, in view of the midterm elections in November, he said: His Democratic Party had a political chance.
Obama literally: “The people we’re competing against politically – the current White House, this administration and their supporters – are behaving so badly, doing such crazy things, that it shouldn’t be difficult for our side to agree on the areas where we agree and concentrate on those.”
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