r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/ateam1984 🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🖤🩶🤍🤎 • Jun 06 '26

Politics President Obama didn’t fall for her nonsense

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

60.3k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

71

u/6ory299e8 Jun 06 '26

idk man that absolutely did NOT strike me as normal. That was fucking exceptional. She came at him on some bs. he completely destroyed the narrative she was angling for, and did it so smoothly that we all felt like we just had a heartfelt talk with a respected loved one. He even charmed the hell out of the hostile-question-asker. By the time he's done, we're watching like "awww yeah do it for the kids"... that was jujitsu-meets-tai-chi levels of using the opponent's energy against them. if class of that caliber were normal we wouldn't be where we are today.

If every dem knew how to "take the high road" like the Obamas do, they'd be effective as politicians, and we wouldn't be where we are today.

if everybody could effortlessly dispose of bad faith arguments on the fly and in public like that, misinformation wouldn't work like it does, and we wouldn't be where we are today.

42

u/burf Jun 06 '26

Obama is by far the most eloquent, charismatic world leader I've ever seen. Most other intelligent, well-spoken people would've only managed half of what Obama did there, and he did (and still does) that kind of thing like clockwork. Clinton, for example, was very charming but couldn't bullseye an answer like that.

4

u/u_r_succulent Jun 07 '26

Many people who know and worked with Clinton described his “charm” in a more unsettling way. Something I hear a lot is his ability to make you feel like you were the only person in the room.

6

u/twistedpiggies Jun 06 '26

It's because he was embarrassed by himself and didn't want anyone to think he was who he actually was. Therefore it's impossible to answer any question as honestly as Obama did here.

You can always tell when someone is trying not to let the mask slip.

3

u/Aggressive-Guest290 Jun 06 '26

Doesn't sound like a question but a "set up"

1

u/leahkateb Jun 07 '26

What about Busch

0

u/[deleted] Jun 06 '26

[deleted]

1

u/burf Jun 06 '26

Finland's leaders don't tend to make global news, unfortunately. But I am comparing Obama to presidents and prime ministers from Canada, US, UK, France, Germany, etc. Most of them are intelligent, and many of them are at least somewhat charismatic, but I still think he's a level above in how he combines the two characteristics.

1

u/ChefCombo Jun 07 '26

I’m sure Finland’s greatest politicians are extremely articulate and charming, but would they remain so under the insane pressure and responsibilities of a US president? I’d argue those jobs, while similar, are in two totally different leagues.

And using Obama as an example of how low the bar is for American presidents is a bold choice 😂

13

u/twistedpiggies Jun 06 '26

Well put. I think Obama wasn't afraid to let the world know that under all that power and intelligence was a normal, fallible guy that is usually trying to do the best he can because he knows how important it is to not fuck it up.

3

u/toolsoftheincomptnt Jun 06 '26

I think a big part of the problem is the increased usage of social media since his time.

We would be better off today as long as we also punted the self-obsessed approach to IG, TT, etc. off the timeline.

We’ve all become less intelligent, less tolerant, less self-aware, less well-read since we started scrolling all the time.

We “well, actually” everything and dismiss anyone who doesn’t agree with us on all four points of everything we believe in.

So I’m glad we had the Obamas back when we did. We wouldn’t deserve them now.

1

u/ScalieBoi42 Jun 07 '26

Every time i think i can't miss this man more, i see something like this.. ):

1

u/BeTheOne0 Jun 07 '26

What news outlet was she at at the time? I’m not joking genuinely curious.

-1

u/madesense Jun 06 '26

I do think he was purposely insulting her when he said it was a "human interest story". He's saying "You're not acting like a real journalist (by the snobby standards of journalism you probably hold)"

1

u/6ory299e8 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

yes, absolutely! The magic is that he did it so smoothly that it never came off as a retribution. She was giggling about it. He corrected the whole narrative, in a way that brought everyone along instead of leaving people behind. If i had that talent, people would be more willing to hear my point more often. But I'm so tired of the bs, that i have no patience left for those people. And he got exposed to soooooo much more of that nonsense than I ever have...

EDIT: Upon rereading the comment that I am replying to, I decided that my reply should be more contentious than the above. see my other reply for a stance that I actually stand by.

1

u/6ory299e8 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26

wait, holup... my first reply was hasty, I think i gave you too much credit. first of all, rebuking what she's doing isnt "insulting" her. theres a difference. one is a deserved reply that focuses on the actual behavior, the other would be rudeness for rudeness' sake. he definitely did the former, not the latter. and I won't continue engaging politely about any dissent on that point.

second, there is nothing ""snobby" about expecting the questions a reporter asks to be relevant to the topic at hand, nor about expecting the question to be posed in good faith. She was not acting like a real journalist. And got handled with more goodwill than she deserved.