Here’s Why Barack Obama Once Said, “Donald Trump and I Tell Very Different Stories About America”
Barack Obama, the predecessor of ex-POTUS Donald Trump, had once opened up about how Trump and he were the face of very distinct stories about America. Back in 2020, almost three years after officially stepping down from his role as President, Obama opined that both he and his successor functioned with different mindsets in a memoir titled A Promised Land (which released during the pandemic).
Discussing the discourse of the memoir and what inspired him to write it, The Guardian asked Obama, "Are you a writer who became a politician, rather than a politician who’s done some writing?" Obama responded by saying, "The truth is, in a lot of ways, the job of a writer and the job of a politician overlap. Both are trying to tell a story that connects with folks... I mean, Donald Trump and I ran on very different stories about what America is all about, but you can’t say either of us didn’t tell a story."
In addition to this, Obama added, "As a writer, you are also better able to avoid some of the pitfalls that politicians encounter. For example, there’s a temptation, in politics, to talk about voters in broad categories: white voters and Black voters, Democrats and Republicans, hockey moms and soccer moms." Focusing on how getting a good grasp of diversity was imperative, Obama continued, "Those categories can give us some understanding of people’s lives, but they don’t show us what’s happening inside – their complexities and contradictions... When you’re a writer, your job is all about figuring out how to show your readers that interior life. I think that’s a perspective we could use more of in our politics."
During the conversation, Obama also touched upon the sensitive issue of conspiracy theories gaining an upper hand over reality. Upon being asked what could help everyone ward it off, Obama responded by saying, "Well, the truth is the truth. Some people just think it’s in their interest to lie about it. Sometimes it works, especially on social media, where you’ll trust something you hear from a friend or an uncle or an outlet that tells you what you want to hear, but you’ll shut out a fact-checker from a publication you’ve been told is slanted against you."
Tracing the solution, he said, "All of us have a role to play in bringing us back toward a common set of facts – elected leaders, tech companies, the media, our education system, and all of us as citizens." Reflecting on something similar in his memoir, Obama felt there were some issues that he gauged lightly upon first taking office. "When I think back to those early conversations, it’s hard to deny my overconfidence. I was convinced that the logic of health-care reform was so obvious that even in the face of well-organized opposition, I could rally the American people’s support," he wrote, as reported by The New Yorker.
