By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Senior National Correspondent
Former President Barack Obama has stepped back into the political arena, delivering some of his sharpest critiques yet of President Donald Trump as the Democratic Party faces one of its weakest moments in modern history. With party leadership approval ratings at historic lows and ties to Black-owned media nearly nonexistent, Obama’s renewed visibility has exposed both the vacuum and disillusionment threatening to fracture the Democratic coalition.
In recent weeks, Obama has publicly denounced Trump’s authoritarian-style intimidation of universities and the administration’s crackdown on the press. Declaring that America must “resist being intimidated,” he warned that defending democratic values may require “sacrifice.” Speaking at Hamilton College, Obama admonished the Trump administration for suspending security clearances and canceling contracts with law firms and schools associated with political opponents. “That kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans,” Obama said. “Imagine if I had done any of this.”
Days later, he took to social media to condemn media companies for capitulating to Trump’s threats. “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level,” Obama wrote, urging journalists and networks to “get a spine” and stand up for free speech.
At London’s O2 Arena in late September, Obama expanded his message beyond partisan politics, telling a packed crowd that true leadership requires vigilance and the courage to “show up and speak out even when it’s uncomfortable.” He warned against complacency among progressives, arguing that the left had grown “smug” and unprepared for the rise of authoritarianism. “True democracy is a project much bigger than any one of us,” he said. “It’s a job for all of us.”
Obama’s renewed activism comes as his party’s base grows increasingly restless. A Pew Research survey found that 59 percent of Democrats disapprove of their party’s leadership—the highest level of dissatisfaction recorded since the question was introduced more than a decade ago. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s approval among Democrats has dropped to 35 percent, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries remains unknown to nearly four in ten Democratic voters.
That lack of visibility and engagement is particularly acute in the Black community. At the Black Press of America’s annual Leadership Awards—an event honoring Jeffries and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke—anticipation filled a packed ballroom. Neither lawmaker attended.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump had just pledged $50,000 to support the struggling Black Press and called on others to follow his lead. “Typical of Democrats,” one attendee said afterward. “They don’t spend money with us. They don’t show up. And then they expect us to deliver their message for free.” The snub, just 18 months before the Black Press’s bicentennial, struck a nerve with publishers who have chronicled America’s freedom struggle—from emancipation to civil rights—without receiving the financial support they believe is due. “Our ancestors built this press through every trial in this country,” said one Black publisher after the event. “The least Hakeem Jeffries could do was show up.”
Obama’s reemergence has not gone unnoticed by voters—or by Trump. At a recent Navy celebration in Virginia, Trump attempted to incite the crowd to boo Obama. When he invoked “Barack Hussein Obama,” the crowd met him with silence. Meanwhile, a Marquette Law School poll found Obama to be the most admired living president, with a +17 net favorability. Trump’s stood at -15, and President Joe Biden’s at -24.
Still, Obama’s return to the spotlight underscores a sobering truth: the Democratic Party—battered by internal strife and disconnected from its base—lacks a clear, trusted voice. His critiques of Trump’s policies, from healthcare rollbacks to media suppression, contrast sharply with the muted response from current Democratic leaders, who have struggled to galvanize voters around issues that once defined the party’s moral core.
Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act have pushed Obama’s signature policy back into the political forefront. Democrats are scrambling to extend ACA subsidies to prevent rising premiums and are attempting to make healthcare a rallying cry again. But without unified leadership, their message has failed to resonate.
Despite his typically measured tone, Obama’s rhetoric has sharpened. He warns that complacency, even among Democrats, has allowed authoritarianism to gain ground. “Progressives assumed our trajectory would bend inevitably toward progress,” he said at the O2. “That complacency left us unprepared.” As Trump wields federal power to punish dissent, the former president’s words now carry the weight of both a warning and a legacy.
But even as Obama reasserts his influence, the party he once led remains uncertain and divided—still overlooking the independent Black media that carried it through generations and still searching for leadership equal to the moment. Obama may have left office eight years ago, but in 2025, he appears to be the last Democrat still leading.
