WATCH: Barack Obama Says ‘Defund the Police’ Disturbed ‘Not Just White Folks, But Michelle’s Mom’

Former President Barack Obama drilled down on his criticism of the phrase “Defund the Police,” saying in an interview that it gave pause “not just white folks, but Michelle’s mom,” referring to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s mother Marian Shields Robinson.

During an interview with The Daily Show‘s Trevor Noah, President Obama tried to walk the line between respecting activists and sharpening the point on his recent controversial criticism of the movement to defund police.

First, Obama clarified that his remarks were not an endorsement of the view that “Defund the police” cost Democrats seats in down-ballot elections, although he did not then weigh in on what he thought the political effect was one way or the other.

He also spoke at length about the differing roles of activists and politicians.

But the former president also responded directly to progressive critics of his remarks, telling Noah “I was making a very particular point around if we, in fact, want to translate the very legitimate belief that how we do policing needs to change, and that if there is for example a homeless guy ranting and railing in the middle of the street, sending a mental health worker rather than an armed untrained police officer to deal with that person might be a better outcome for all of us, and make us safer.”

“If we describe that to, not just white folks, but let’s say, Michelle’s mom, that makes sense to them,” Obama said, then added “But if we say ‘Defund the Police,’ not just vote white folks but Michelle’s mom might say ‘If I’m getting robbed, who am I going to call, and is somebody going to show up?’ Right?”

He also addressed the criticism that “we [are] just trying to make white people comfortable rather than speaking truth to power,” saying that “The issue to me is not making them comfortable, it is can we be precise with our language enough that people who might be persuaded around that particular issue, to make a particular change that gets a particular result that we want, what’s the best way for us to describe that?”

“So what you’re basically saying is we should workshop all of our slogans with Michelle,” Noah joked, to which President Obama laughed and replied “That probably would be wise.”

To President Obama’s point, although polling has been fairly consistent that pluralities of Black voters support or view “Defund the Police” favorably, majorities either don’t support it or don’t view it favorably — while not necessarily opposing it or viewing it unfavorably. But a June-July Gallup poll showed that a whopping 81 percent of Black Americans want police to spend the same amount or more time in their local areas.

Watch the clip above via Comedy Central.

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