Barack Obama is “nervous about his legacy” after President-elect Donald Trump’s historic victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, the former president’s biographer said.
“He has been and remains extremely concerned and nervous about his historical legacy,” said David Garrow, who wrote the 2017 biography, “Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama.” “That has certainly taken a big hit with Trump once again triumphing.”
“The conclusion for Democrats is that they’ve got to dispense with these people from the past, including Hillary Clinton too, and move to a new generation of figures who are not in the AOC club at all,” Garrow added.
Garrow cited Obama and his wife, Michelle, lecturing voters as they campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris, telling The Daily Mail, “People do not want to be talked down to, no matter who they are. … I thought it was tone-deaf and clueless for them to preach as they did. … I would expect that perception will be shared by lots of people. If so, I think it reduces their relevance to Bill Clinton territory.”
“Even before last night, I was of the quite strong belief that the tone and condescension with which both Barack and Michelle spoke, particularly towards black men, was self-defeating to the point of backfire,” Garrow posited.
On October 11, at a local Harris campaign office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Obama criticized black men for not displaying the same “energy and turnout” for Harris they showed when he ran.
“You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses,” Obama said. “I’ve got a problem with that, because part of it makes me think — I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”
Some black men took offense to Obama’s remarks.
During an October rally in Kalamazoo, Michelle Obama made similar remarks about men in general, saying she did not “expect any man to fully grasp how vulnerable” the election makes women feel.
“So fellas, before you cast your votes, ask yourself, what side of history do you want to be on? Now I recognize that there are a lot of angry disillusioned people out there upset with the slow pace of change,” Michelle Obama said. “So are you as men prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them that you supported this assault on our safety?”
“Certainly at the margins, I think they both harmed her,” Garrow said of the Obamas’ effect on Harris’s chances.
“He still has the celebrity factor of being an ex-president,” Garrow insisted, adding that he surmised the Obamas would “continue to hang out with celebrities and live on Martha’s Vineyard.”
Still, Garrow predicts Trump’s victory will change some things for the Obamas.
“I certainly expect them to be spending less time in Washington after early January,” he said.
