Obama calls out Haley on racism: 'Long list of minority candidates in GOP who say everything is great'

16 June 2023

Former President Barack Obama has, at times, sounded a lot like veteran Democratic strategist James Carville and "Real Time" host Bill Maher when voicing his criticisms of "woke culture," "cancel culture" and what he views as excessive political correctness. But Obama has also stressed that criticizing the excesses of "wokeness" doesn't mean turning a blind eye to racism or pretending it no longer exists. And he has cited GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley as an example of a prominent Republican who downplays racism.

During a mid-June interview for Democratic strategist David Axelrod's podcast "The Axe Files," Obama argued, "There's a long history of African-American or other minority candidates within the Republican Party who will validate America and say, 'Everything's great, and we can make it'….. Nikki Haley, I think, has a similar approach."

Axelrod, during the interview, commented that Sen. Tim Scott — a Black South Carolina Republican who is running against Haley in the 2024 GOP presidential primary — voices "half" of Obama's views on race and agrees with him that race relations have improved in the U.S. But Axelrod also said that Republicans dismiss racism as "part of the past, and we don't need to worry about it so much."

Haley was quick to attack Obama in response to his comments, claiming that he is painting people of color as "victims."

The former South Carolina governor and ex-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who is Indian-American, told the New York Post, "Barack Obama set minorities back by singling them out as victims instead of empowering them. In America, hard work and personal responsibility matter. My parents didn't raise me to think that I would forever be a victim. They raised me to know that I was responsible for my success."

This wasn't the first time Haley accused Obama of setting race relations back. She made similar comments in May during an appearance on Fox News.

Haley, however, glosses over Obama's many past comments about racism — and his view that some progressives take "wokeness" too far. In fact, Obama has drawn criticism from some progressives for his views on "wokeness" and "cancel culture."

During a 2019 interview with SiriusXM, Obama argued, "You know, sometimes, people just want to not feel as if they are walking on eggshells. And they want some acknowledgment that life is messy and that all of us at any given moment can say things the wrong way, make mistakes."

Maher, similarly, has argued that Americans are sick of feeling they have to "walk on eggshells" because of progressives who are too easily offended. But Maher also slams MAGA Republicans for being hypersensitive "snowflakes."

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