Becket Adams writes for the Washington Examiner about the latest pronouncement from the 44th president.
[Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez is omnipresent on the popular social media platform, scoring hundreds of thousands of likes and re-tweets with snotty comebacks and glib one-liners. Her ability to excite the Twitter faithful is likely one of the reasons why she believes her positions are favored and that she wields actual political power. They aren’t, and she doesn’t.
But don’t take my word for it. Former President Barack Obama himself said as much this week with his none-too-flattering assessment of the “defund the police” movement, which is championed by the ultra-liberal wing of the Democratic Party. …
… The “defund the police” movement, said Obama during a Good Luck America interview that aired Wednesday, may play well with certain corners of the Democratic base. But it has the exact opposite effect of winning over allies. It certainly won’t win the support necessary to enact meaningful criminal justice reforms, he added.
Obama’s remarks came after host Peter Hamby asked the former president specifically for his take on the anti-police initiative, which a number of veteran Democratic lawmakers, including Majority Whip James Clyburn, blame for the party’s poor showing in the 2020 elections. …
… “If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it’s not biased and treats everybody fairly,” the former commander in chief continued, “I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘Defund the Police,’ but you know you’ve 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.”
Obama’s advice may come as a surprise to the left-wing activists who appear to be laboring under the delusion that likes and retweets equal real-world popular support.
