Members of the far-left ‘Squad’ fired back at Barack Obama after the former President criticized “snappy” slogans like “defund the police” as a losing political argument.
Obama made the comments during a Snapchat interview which aired Wednesday morning.
“You lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done,” said Obama.
“Do you want to actually get something done, or do you want to feel good among the people you already agree with?” he chastised.
Squad members Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and the latest addition, Cori Bush (D-MO), all took turns hammering Obama for belittling their efforts to dismantle the police as just a “snappy” slogan.
Obama tells @Snapchat’s @PeterHamby in an interview that will debut tomorrow on Snap that broad slogans like “defund the police” lose people
More on @axios: https://t.co/LofapVF8FR— Sara Fischer (@sarafischer) December 1, 2020
RELATED: Obama Turns On Far-Left, Says Dems Lose With Slogans Like ‘Defund The Police’
The ‘Squad’ Fires Back Over Obama’s ‘Snappy’ Slogan Criticism
Omar began the barrage, telling Obama you don’t lose people to “snappy” slogans, you lose them to the police.
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She wanted to make it explicitly clear that their position is, in fact, to defund the police.
“We lose people in the hands of police,” Omar suggested. “It’s not a slogan but a policy demand.”
“And centering the demand for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country gets us progress and safety,” she continued.
We lose people in the hands of police. It’s not a slogan but a policy demand. And centering the demand for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country gets us progress and safety. https://t.co/Vu6inw4ms7
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 2, 2020
Tlaib compared the ‘defund the police’ movement to civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
“Rosa Parks was vilified [and] attacked for her civil disobedience. She was targeted,” Tlaib tweeted.
“It’s hard seeing the same people who uplift her courage, attack the movement for Black lives that want us to prioritize health, funding of schools [and] ending poverty, rather than racist police systems.”
Rosa Parks was vilified & attacked for her civil disobedience. She was targeted. It’s hard seeing the same people who uplift her courage, attack the movement for Black lives that want us to prioritize health, funding of schools & ending poverty, rather than racist police systems.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) December 2, 2020
Pressley warned Obama that she is “out of patience” with people who criticize their choice of slogans in bringing about the destruction of law enforcement.
“The murders of generations of unarmed Black folks by police have been horrific,” she tweeted. “Lives are at stake daily so I’m out of patience with critiques of the language of activists.”
The murders of generations of unarmed Black folks by police have been horrific. Lives are at stake daily so I’m out of patience with critiques of the language of activists.
Whatever a grieving family says is their truth.
And I’ll never stop fighting for their justice & healing.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) December 2, 2020
Bush, who wants not only to ‘defund the police’ but to ‘defund the Pentagon,’ also went after Obama.
“With all due respect, Mr. President—let’s talk about losing people,” Bush tweeted. “We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor. We’re losing our loved ones to police violence.”
“It’s not a slogan,” she claimed. “It’s a mandate for keeping our people alive. Defund the police.”
With all due respect, Mr. President—let’s talk about losing people. We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor. We’re losing our loved ones to police violence.
It’s not a slogan. It’s a mandate for keeping our people alive. Defund the police. https://t.co/Wsxp1Y1bBi
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) December 2, 2020
RELATED: Trump Hints He’ll Be In White House In 2024: ‘See You In Four Years’
Critics Of Defunding The Police Are Pro-Slavery?
Michael Eric Dyson, a far-left liberal political commentator, compared critics of defunding the police to those who the abolition of slavery in an interview on ‘The View.’
“I know some people have been outraged by the use of abolish the police,” Dyson said. “Guess what? In the 1850s many White Americans were against abolishing slavery.”
“So that the very word ‘abolition’ has caused some people problems, it has been a longstanding tradition in America.”
Following Dyson’s logic, he is essentially saying Obama is just like White Americans who wanted slavery to continue.
That’s a hell of a stretch.
It isn’t all bad blood between Obama and the Squad.
The former President did scold Democrats for not giving Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a bigger platform at their convention earlier this year.
“One thing I will say about the Democratic Party, promoting young people is really important,” Obama said. “We stick so long with the same old folks and don’t make room for new voices.”
“The fact that AOC only got, what? Three minutes or five minutes?” he complained. “When she speaks to a broad section of young people who are interested in what she has to say, even if they don’t agree with everything she says.”
If they gave her additional time she most likely would have used more of those “snappy” slogans promoting the abolition of law enforcement and the spread of socialism that ‘lose people.’
