Obama called out by progressives for not doing enough to counter Trump
Some liberals reportedly want former President Obama to do more amid President Donald Trump's second term, accusing the former president of sacrificing his "megaphone."
"There are many grandmas and Rachel Maddow viewers who have been more vocal in this moment than Barack Obama has," co-founder of the Progressive Change Institute, Adam Green, told the Atlantic.
Obama campaigned alongside former President Biden before he dropped out of the race and also stumped for former Vice President Kamala Harris when she became the nominee. The former president spoke out against Trump in April at an event in New York, but has largely remained out of the spotlight since Trump won.
"It is heartbreaking," Green said, "to see him sacrificing that megaphone when nobody else quite has it."
Obama accused the Trump administration of trying to destroy the post-World War II international order at the April event before suggesting sacrifice might be necessary to fight back against Trump.
"It has been easy during most of our lifetimes to say you are a progressive, or say you are for social justice, or say you are for free speech, and not have to pay a price for it… And now we're in one of those moments when… it's not enough just to say you're for something. You may actually have to do something and possibly sacrifice a little bit," Obama said.
"Should Obama get out and do more? Yes, please," Democratic media consultant Tracy Sefl told the Atlantic.
"Help us," she said. "We're sinking over here."
The Obama Foundation did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The former Democratic president also weighed in on the back-and-forth between Harvard and the Trump administration in a post to social media in April, praising his alma mater for standing up against the president.
Eric Schultz, an adviser to Obama, told the Atlantic that the former president is careful about the issues he weighs in on.
"We try to preserve his voice so that when he does speak, it has impact," Schultz said. "There is a dilution factor that we're very aware of."
Obama's former Attorney General Eric Holder told The Atlantic that the former president was out there opposing Trump, but said Democrats needed to be careful not to "regularize" him.
"Should he do more? Everybody can have their opinions," Holder said. "The one thing that always kind of pisses me off is when people say he's not out there, or that he's not doing things, that he's just retired, and we never hear from him. If you f------ look, folks, you would see that he's out there."
Jon Favreau, a former Obama speechwriter and co-host of "Pod Save America," told the outlet that the Democratic Party needed new stardom but added that if Trump attempted to run for a third term, he would beg the former president to be the party's standard-bearer again.
"The party needs new rising stars, and they need the room to figure out how to meet this moment, just like Obama figured out how to meet the moment 20 years ago," he said. "Unless, of course, Trump tries to run for a third term, in which case I'll be begging Obama to come out of retirement."
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