Obama Says What Everyone’s Thinking About Trump’s Dangerous Agenda That’s Enabled By Republicans Because He’s ‘from Their Tribe’

Former President Barack Obama took direct aim at Donald Trump and his Republican allies last week, accusing them of turning a blind eye to constitutional abuses they would’ve fiercely condemned if committed by him during his eight years as commander in chief.

Speaking at Hamilton College in upstate New York on April 3, Obama pointed to Trump’s efforts to deport legal immigrants, blacklist the media, punish student protesters, eliminate diversity and gut federal institutions — moves he called dangerous and authoritarian. 

Without naming the president directly, Obama expressed being “deeply concerned” about certain actions taken by the current administration, sharply criticizing the Republican Party for its failure to challenge Trump on anything.

“Imagine if I had done any of this,” Obama said, taking an incredulous tone while calling out the blatant hypocrisy by conservatives who give Trump a pass to skirt the rule of law and brush aside scandals without consequence. 

Since taking office in January, Trump has moved aggressively to shrink the federal government — dismantling USAID and targeting other agencies in clear violation of statutory limits, while freezing congressionally authorized spending without clear legal authority.

Social media critics said the expansive number of executive orders issued by Trump were part of a broader Republican strategy to “flood the zone” with the aim of keeping the press guessing while pushing forward with major elements of Project 2025.

Many of Trump’s policy moves involve cutbacks identified by billionaire Elon Musk and his congressionally unauthorized Department of Government Efficiency, and have already faced judicial roadblocks, with courts at least temporarily halting some implementations.

Trump indicated last week that Musk’s tumultuous work for the administration may be coming to an end soon as the president himself was facing mounting disapproval, with Republican voters among his loudest critics.

Recent polls show more than half the country is dissatisfied with his performance so far, particularly as he has yet to fulfill his promise of lowering consumer prices on day one.

Until last week, Obama had mostly stayed quiet as Trump bulldozed through government norms, eliminating programs, key positions and departments, while firing thousands of federal workers, many of them career-long civil servants. Back in early January, Obama even shared a pew with Trump at Jimmy Carter’s funeral — just weeks before Trump’s second inauguration.

It now appears that Obama has finally taken off the gloves, expressing both outrage and worry over Trump’s rash of executive orders, some of which have been reversed in court as illegal, while Trump himself has claimed a “mandate” from the American people to pursue his controversial agenda.

Obama refuted the whole premise.

“Imagine I had pulled Fox News’ credentials from the White House press corps,” he said during the talk, referencing Trump’s recent decision to ban The Associated Press from the White House press pool after the agency refused to use the “Gulf of America,” instead of Gulf of Mexico in its news reports.

“If I had done even a fraction of this, the outrage would’ve been deafening,” Obama said. “But when it’s someone from your tribe, suddenly the Constitution is optional,” he added, referring to Republican silence amid Trump’s chaos.

Obama didn’t stop there. He pointed to Trump’s attempts to intimidate lawyers as part of a broader effort to bend the legal system to his will.

“Imagine if I had said to law firms that were representing parties that were upset with policies my administration had initiated that you will not be allowed into government buildings,” Obama said. “We will punish you economically for dissenting from the [ACA] or the Iran Deal.”

With the stock market in turmoil and all signs pointing to a recession, Obama condemned Trump’s tariffs, calling them economically reckless.

“I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy,” Obama said. 

But, he said, the bigger danger was Trump’s disregard for basic rights, warning that the current president was neglecting civil liberties and the fundamental principles of freedom and democracy.

“I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” he said. “The idea that a White House can say to law firms, ‘If you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively,’” Obama continued, “is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”

On social media, pundits and commentators quickly echoed Obama’s rebuke, saying the GOP’s double standard is no longer subtle — it’s the whole strategy.

“Obama just said what everyone’s thinking but too many are afraid to admit: If he had done even a fraction of what Trump’s doing—blacklisting press, punishing dissent, targeting student protestors—the outrage would’ve been deafening,” Brian Allen of the “Allen Podcast” wrote on X. “But now? Silence. Because when the Constitution gets torched by someone in your tribe, suddenly principles are optional. This isn’t about policy anymore—it’s about power unchecked and hypocrisy on full display.”

Republicans have also shown a remarkable lack of concern over other controversies that have emerged since Trump took office. Notably, there was no significant uproar from conservatives over the Signal chat scandal last month, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other top intelligence officials may have exposed sensitive military secrets through an unsecured messaging app during planning for military air strikes on Yemen. 

Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska downplayed the blunder, stating, “everybody makes mistakes,” which reflected the passive response from nearly every Republican on Capitol Hill, with none of the fiery outrage that was shown when Hillary Clinton was embroiled in a similar messaging scandal back when she was secretary of state. After days of avoiding the issue, the Trump White House announced it was moving on from the controversy, with no indication of anyone being fired or disciplined over what was described by Democrats as a very serious intelligence failure that put American soldiers at risk.

Similarly, no outcry emerged when Trump allowed Elon Musk’s vehicles to be displayed in front of the White House, seemingly to boost sales, underscoring the selective outrage by Republicans.

While Obama highlighted this double standard, he emphasized that his concerns went beyond party lines, urging the nation to stand up for its core values.

“I say this not on a partisan basis. This has to do with something more precious, which is who are we as a country and what values do we stand for?”

Meanwhile, former Vice President Kamala Harris echoed similar concerns during a speech the same day at the Leading Women Defined Summit in California. She decried the growing trend of “progress being rolled back” and warned of a “sense of fear” sweeping the nation.

Her comments came in light of Trump’s deal with Willkie Farr & Gallagher, the law firm employing former second gentleman Doug Emhoff, promising at least $100 million in pro bono legal services to Trump’s preferred conservative clients throughout his second term. This deal added to a pattern of high-profile law firms striking deals with the White House as Trump targets those associated with his political opponents.

“There were many things we knew would happen,” Harris said in a video of her remarks before delivering a stinging punchline: “I’m not here to say I told you so.” 

She described the alarming ripple effect of Trump’s actions during his so-called “revenge tour.”

“We are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly unconstitutional threats,” Harris said. “And these are the things that we are witnessing each day in these last few months in our country. And it understandably creates a great sense of fear.”

Obama, meanwhile, closed with a hopeful message, acknowledging that history is full of ups and downs — marked by conflict, “stupidity,” and peril — but emphasized the importance of resilience.

“Don’t get discouraged,” he urged. “I know it’s a little crazy right now, but we’re going to be OK.”

Obama made the remarks days before protests against Trump and Musk erupted across all 50 states over the weekend, fueled by a pro-democracy movement decrying what they call a “hostile takeover” and an attack on American rights. More than 1,400 “Hands Off!” protests took place at state capitols, federal buildings, congressional offices, Social Security headquarters, parks, and city halls, demanding an end to Trump’s slash-and-burn policies.