Obama attacks Trump voters in DNC speech
UK Brexit 2016 – a win for marginalised voters
June 23 2016, the referendum to leave or stay within the European Union (EU) was held in the UK. By a surprisingly close margin of 52% to 48% the country voted to leave the EU. We were all shocked by the results, those of us in the left of centre of the Labour Party and half of the Conservative Party including the then Prime Minister David Cameron, who ironically granted the referendum and at the same time campaigned against leaving the EU.
A massive denial and a nationwide brawl ensued over failure to accept the results of the referendum, which culminated into a general election in December 2019 , three and half years later. It was a stonking win for supporters of the Leave vote and handed a 5-year mandate to Prime minister Boris Johnson. The result was a stinging and total rebuke to those who failed to accept the referendum results and sought to cancel it by any means necessary.
US elections 2016 – another win for marginalised voters
In the 2016 elections, over the shores in the USA, former President Barack Obama wasn’t on the ballot, but together with his wife Michelle, they campaigned strongly for Hillary Clinton in order to break the glass ceiling and become the first woman US president. That exercise ended in abject failure as voters rejected Hillary and by implication Obama’s outgoing administration, and voted in favor of political newbie Donald Trump.
Obama’s attack on Trump voters
Fast forward to Wednesday August 19, the Obama’s are in the stomping grounds again campaigning for the oldest man within the two major parties ever to attempt to be president of the USA, their buddy, Joe Biden. Obama, in his speech to the DNC, had the opportunity to lay out what Joe and his vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris could do for the country. Instead, he took the chance to paint a dark picture of his country and at the same time denigrate President Trump, and by implication, all those who voted for him in 2016. He accused Trump of not taking the job seriously, of abusing the military, and of only being motivated to help himself and his friends. The rhetoric was, let’s undo what you voted for, as it was wrong. Just as his wife had done on her podcast message a few days earlier.
What was ironic, too, was his reference to the fact that the media isn’t the enemy. Clearly for Obama, when he was in office, he never gave the media the chance to be the enemy, as he used the Espionage Act more times than all previous Presidents combined to stop them from speaking out. The media have spent the last four years taking the side against Trump, and in so doing have joined with this attack against democracy, in trying to undo the result of the 2016 election. After how the press have behaved, to say that Trump is the enemy of the free press, is beyond ludicrous.
Brexit and Trump vote represent a rejection of the status quo
What these two situations, the Brexit vote and Trump election, both share, is the intentions of the public. Both votes represented the views of a number of people who felt marginalised, and not listened to. In each case, what the supporters were fighting for was a sense of reclaiming their own land, and a fatigue with bureaucrats who they felt didn’t represent how they were feeling. In both instances, there was a sense that they were fighting against how things ought to be. In Britain, the Brexit voters ignored the dire warnings about the consequences of voting to leave the EU, because for them the status quo was worse. In the US, there was a feeling that people would come to their senses soon, and that Trump would never be elected, as he wasn’t a politician, and didn’t have any experience. In both cases, the underdog won, and the status quo was blown out of the water.
Both were democratic votes, both were hard fought, and had a clear winner and clear loser. In both cases, the losing side took it upon themselves to try and overturn the result of this democratic vote, and paraded their actions as reflective of the will of the people. Just as the UK found out in their December poll, America is likely to have the same awakening in the November presidential elections. People don’t like being told that their choice was wrong, that the outcome of a democratic vote should be reversed. This is democracy; you may not always be on the winning side. If Obama and his posse continue with this rhetoric, they may just find in November, that Trump romps to victory again, big time.
Democracy is there for a reason, and you have to respect the choice of those who won, regardless of whether or not you agree with their policies.
Picture: President Barack Obama is photographed during a presidential portrait sitting for an official photo in the Oval Office, Dec. 6, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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