Obama Claims Dems Have ‘Harder Job’ Than Republicans Because They’re Not As ‘Mean, Tough, and Nasty’

Former President Barack Obama argued Democrats have a “harder job” because they believe the government is a “tool for good” and should be used as such — unlike Republicans, who are “mean, tough, and nasty” and more focused on “tearing stuff down.”

Obama shared his thoughts on the difference between Democrats and Republicans while on liberal podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast on Saturday.

Cohen said he has had a hard time “reconciling” that it feels like Democrats are “solely focused on protecting norms, institutions, [and] processes” compared to the GOP, which “sees what it wants and will find a way to get it — laws be damned, Constitution be damned.” He then asked Obama what needs to be done about that “massive asymmetry” between the two parties.

Here is what Obama told him:

Look, I think we have to acknowledge that we’ve got the harder job, right?

So we believe in government as a tool for good — for as a potential force to more jobs and as a way to make sure that the planet doesn’t roast. To make sure that as we move forward and the economy grows, that everybody, and not just some, are benefiting and the kids are getting a good education. And what that means is that we have to think about the consequences of our actions. We have to try to figure out how do we get working majorities to actually pass laws and to implement those laws and to make things happen.

Tearing stuff down doesn’t require all that.

Obama said the Republicans have only passed one “significant” piece of legislation during President Donald Trump’s second term — the One Big Beautiful Bill. The rest of the time has been spent focusing on pouring a “huge amount of money” into ICE and other issues that matter to Republican voters — but those can be easily reversed, Obama said.

He also agreed that Republicans were not concerned with upholding longstanding norms. Obama said he doesn’t want Democrats to do the same thing.

“I don’t want us to have a slash and burn strategy where we don’t care about rule of law, we don’t care about some of the guardrails around our democracy,” Obama said. “We start lying and having no regard for the truth the way the other seems to be comfortable with right now. Because if that’s how we fight, then we lose what we’re fighting for. But that doesn’t mean we have to get punked or or be saps — or to cling to traditions just for the sake of tradition.”

He then expanded on why he believes Democrats have a “harder job” than their GOP rivals.

Because sometimes I think we’re tough on Democrats saying, “Why aren’t you being as mean, tough, and nasty as they are?” Well, you know, when I was president of the United States, I suppose I could have simply unilaterally ordered the military to, you know, go into some red state and, and harass and intimidate a governor there or cut off funding for states that didn’t vote for me. I could have exercised that prerogative. That is contrary to how I think our democracy is supposed to work.

In that same interview, Obama responded to the recent video Trump posted where him and Michelle Obama are depicted as cartoon apes; Obama said Trump’s MAGA supporters didn’t feel enough “shame” over it. 

Watch above via Brian Tyler Cohen.

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