As Donald Trump’s controversies continue to mount, former President Barack Obama appears more energized and outspoken than he has been in years — signaling that he believes America’s core democratic values are under serious threat.
Traditionally measured and restrained when addressing Trump’s presidency, Obama has recently taken a far more direct tone, publicly condemning what he sees as authoritarian tendencies and political extremism spreading across the nation.
In April, during a speech at Hamilton College, Obama criticized Trump’s trade tariffs, denounced the administration’s hostility toward higher education, and warned that America’s fundamental values were “eroding.” He also blasted Trump’s reported attempts to pressure law firms as “contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”
By June, his warnings grew sharper. At The Connecticut Forum in Hartford, Obama cautioned that the country was “dangerously close” to accepting behavior more typical of authoritarian regimes than of democratic nations.
A month later, after Trump’s team falsely accused him of “treason,” Obama broke his usual composure, dismissing the allegations as “ridiculous” and “beneath the dignity of the presidency.”
In August, he released a video strongly criticizing Republican-led gerrymandering efforts, calling them “an existential threat to our democracy.” Behind the scenes, he also met privately with up-and-coming Democrats, including Zohran Mamdani, encouraging them to keep pushing for reform and celebrating their wins in local elections.
Now, in September, Obama’s tone has become even more forceful. Speaking at the Jefferson Educational Society’s Global Summit in Pennsylvania, he condemned the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the growing wave of political violence sweeping the U.S. Without mentioning Trump directly, Obama clearly drew a line between responsible leadership and the divisive rhetoric he believes is fueling unrest.
Reflecting on the 2015 Charleston church massacre, Obama reminded the audience, “As president, my first instinct was not to find out which political figure inspired the killer or to weaponize the tragedy against my opponents. Leadership means guiding the nation toward healing, not using pain as a political tool.”
He described Kirk’s killing as a “horrific tragedy” and reaffirmed his rejection of all forms of political violence, calling it “a betrayal of what it means to live in a democratic society.” Though he disagreed with many of Kirk’s ideas, Obama emphasized that violence could never be justified in any political context.
Just days later, after the Trump administration allegedly pressured networks to remove Jimmy Kimmel’s show, Obama took to Bluesky to blast what he called “state-driven censorship.” He wrote, “After years of railing against cancel culture, this administration has taken it to a dangerous level — threatening regulatory action against media outlets unless they silence voices it dislikes.”
Citing The Washington Post’s firing of columnist Karen Attiah over her comments about Kirk, Obama added, “This is exactly the kind of government coercion the First Amendment was meant to prevent. Media companies must stand up for free expression, not bow to political intimidation.”
Back in January 2017, as he prepared to leave office, Obama had promised to mostly stay out of the political fray, saying he would speak up only if America’s “core values” were endangered.
Nearly nine years later, it’s clear he believes that moment has arrived. Obama’s increasingly outspoken stance suggests a former president no longer willing to stay silent — one who sees the nation’s democratic principles in peril and is, once again, fired up and ready to go.