Cornel West Says Obama ‘Didn’t Have the Courage, Didn’t Have to Willingness to Fight’ That Biden Does
Appearing on CNN International Thursday, Cornel West gave glowing marks to President Joe Biden while taking a swipe at former President Barack Obama.
West had previously been very critical of Biden. In December, he said then President-elect Biden would bring more “neoliberal disaster” to the country. Citing Biden’s history of policy positions that repelled many progressives, West pivoted and praised Biden for his decision to withdraw U.S. soldiers from Afghanistan, signing the American Rescue Plan, and his proposal to improve the nation’s infrastructure. He then compared him to former President Lyndon Johnson:
He reminds me very much of LBJ, who started as a White supremacist from Jim Crow Texas and ended up one of the major forces for good against White supremacy. That’s why you never give up on people. You never know which way they’re heading. You never know what kind of change they can put forward, and if Biden continues in this way he’s going to be very much like LBJ and will be a much stronger force for good against White supremacy on the ground than Barack Obama was.
Now, Barack Obama had the symbols. He’s brilliant, he’s Black, he’s poised, and so forth. Didn’t have the courage. Didn’t have the willingness to fight that Biden does when it comes to this issue, when it comes to a variety of issues. So who would know? Who would think that Joseph Biden from Scranton, Pennsylvania could become such a force for good for progressives?
West explained he still has issues with some of Biden’s policies, particularly in foreign policy as it pertains to the Middle East and Haiti.
This is hardly the first time West has expressed his disappointment in Obama. Writing in The Guardian days before Obama left office, West said, “The reign of Obama did not produce the nightmare of Donald Trump – but it did contribute to it. And those Obama cheerleaders who refused to make him accountable bear some responsibility.”
Watch above, via CNN International
