While the battle between Donald Trump and “the squad” of progressive female lawmakers reached a fever pitch on Tuesday, some people are comparing the Commander-in-Chief to his predecessor with the hashtag #ObamaWasBetterAt.
The hashtag was trending on Tuesday with nearly 87,000 people weighing in with their own humorous, heartwarming, and sometimes offensive messages. Supporters posted that the former president was better at leading the country, being a good husband, working with foreign leaders, and being inclusive.
“#ObamaWasBetterAt reaching out to all of America and not excluding those who did not look like him,” tweeted one user.
“#ObamaWasBetterAt being respectful of those who didn’t agree with him,” activist Khary Penebaker tweeted .
Another user praised Obama for his ability to deal with children.
“#ObamaWasBetterAt EVERYTHING… especially dealing with children. Tears come to my eyes just seeing clips of him speaking. How far we have fallen,” tweeted Lauren OBrien.
Other Twitter users took the opportunity to roast Obama and support Trump instead.
“Oh this will be a fun game… #ObamaWasBetterAt caving to terrorists. #ObamaWasBetterAt spying on private citizens. #ObamaWasBetterAt lying to the American people. What a complete embarrassment Obama was for this country, thank goodness we have President Trump!” tweeted Nick Adams.
#ObamaWasBetterAt spying on us! pic.twitter.com/cm0Dx5WASj
— Carlos Latuff (@LatuffCartoons) July 16, 2019
The hashtag started after President Trump attacked four freshman Congresswomen, telling them to “go back” to the “broken” and “crime infested” countries they came from in a series of tweets on Sunday.
The four women, known as “the squad,” are all U.S. citizens and all women of color. Three of the four women were born and raised in the U.S., prompting progressives to call out the president for what they perceive to be a racist and xenophobic slur on American minorities.
Without calling them by name, Trump attacked Ilhan Omar, a representative of Minnesota who was born in Somalia and came to the U.S. as a refugee; Rashida Tlaib, a representative of Michigan who was born in Detroit; and Ayanna Pressley, a representative of Massachusetts who was born in Chicago. He also went after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a vocal opponent of Trump, who was born in New York, which she currently represents.
Trump’s comments have prompted House Democrats to propose a resolution that would condemn his language and force Republicans, who have been largely silent on the matter, to publicly state their opinions.
While Obama hasn’t weighed in on the controversy, the former president has criticized Trump in the past, calling him “unfit” for the office of president according to Politico .
