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I don't get why the Trumpers hate Obama so much... he's always come across as well thought out and pragmatic.

notacoward 6y ago
> he's always come across as well thought out and pragmatic Some people hate him because he's thoughtful and pragmatic. They appeal to emotion or faith, not intellect. Their goal is cataclysm, not stability. It sounds crazy, it is crazy, but from boogaloo bros to evangelicals it's a lot of Trump's base. Oh, and he's black. That matters a lot to an overlapping segment of that base, outweighing literally any other personal qualities he might have.
- jjj123 6y ago
  I think you’re missing that Obama’s decency and pragmatism are also emotional appeals to a certain kind of person. Personally it feels like bullshit to me (less bullshitty than Trump but still rings false). More importantly, Obama’s decency or Trump’s lack thereof are mostly irrelevant to what many people want out of a president. For example, I want Medicare for all, a green new deal, no more drone strikes, nationalized internet, etc. We’re more likely to get those things by being angry, not by being civil.
  - notacoward 6y ago
    decency and pragmatism are also emotional appeals ... We’re more likely to get those things by being angry I think it's clear whether Obama's supporters or detractors are relying on emotional appeals.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
sremani 6y ago
I do not hate Obama - but his administration's abysmal record in multiple fronts drove me to Trump. Where were the Perp walks? He got chummy with Wall Street and cashed out after his "retirement". He over saw Putin making territorial expansions and was really ineffective containing Russia and China. etc. Color me Furious when a dude with 7 million dollar mansion in DC and Martha's Vineyard complains about not giving up on America.
- free_rms 6y ago
  I'm not looking to stan Obama, but I have to quibble with "Russian territorial expansions". Losing Ukraine as a de facto puppet state and having to invade to keep critical port infrastructure in the Crimea isn't an expansion, it's a mitigated loss.
- tartoran 6y ago
  Genuine question. After a Trump term, are you still supporting him? Also, do you see his refusal to concede as legit?
- b0sk 6y ago
  LOL at mentioning all those things as a factor that "drove" you to Trump. No, you drove yourself to Trump. Trump is literally worse in every point you listed.
- netsharc 6y ago
  So, you think Obama was a swindler and you voted for Trump? I wouldn't trust your background checking abilities... But I get it, you made a choice and you tried to find a justification for that choice. I saw this speech and Q&A with Yanis Varoufakis the other day, and at one point he reiterated the "Fuck you, establishment!" motivations of Trump and Brexit-voters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGeevtdp1WQ&feature=youtu.be&t=3293 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGeevtdp1WQ&feature=youtu.be... . Voting for Hillary would have meant a continuation of Obama, out of anger or desperation of how shitty their lives had been, many in the electorate thought "Let's just vote for change, it might be shit, or it might be good, at least we know it'll be change.". And IMO Trump voters probably found justification after they made up their minds to vote for him, fooling themselves "He's not shit!" and clutching to empty hopes that Trump will fulfill his car salesman promises...
  - netsharc 6y ago
    20 minutes, -2 points. What's wrong with what I wrote? Or did I forget yet again that HN is probably full of "libertarians" and should I wonder why I even come back and try to contribute here...
sk5t 6y ago
Neither of those attributes is relevant to those who would support a demagogue. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/opinion/how-to-protect-america-from-the-next-donald-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/opinion/how-to-protect-am...
erdos4d 6y ago
Cause that's how tribalism works.
omosubi 6y ago
I'm not a trump fan by any means but obama was just another 8 years of bush. he didn't do much to end the wars, wall street got a raise especially those at the very top, no one was held accountable for the financial crisis, he gave more and more jobs away to china, obamacare gave huge profits to the insurance industry (which is why you didn't see republicans repeal it even when controlling the senate and house), he leapt at the chance to help tech companies who didn't need it, he limited civil liberties, and so on. It's so frustrating to see liberals bend over backwards to defend him.
- psychometry 6y ago
  You're not wrong, but none of those things are why Trumpers hate him. It's racism, pure and simple.
  - hnlurker 6y ago
    Given the significant and well documented population of people that voted blue in '12 and red in '16, your claims seem beyond extraordinary and into the land of fantasy. A wise man once said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I'm sure it has nothing to do with President Obama leveraging the IRS to explicitly go after conservative groups. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama extrajudicially murdering an American citizen. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama wielding the espionage act to prosecute whistleblowers more than all previous presidents combined. Bonus points for him wiretapping dozens of AP reporters. Yet when Trump tweets a meme gif of him knocking down a pro-wrestler with CNN overlaid on the person's face, he's treated as if he's destroying the 1st amendment and calling to violence; yet Obama is putting actual intense pressure on newspapers for writing bad stories about his administration. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama's anti-semitism displayed in so many ways including paying Iran to continue building a nuclear weapon, legitimizing baby-wielding terrorists, or cutting the legs out from under Israeli led coalitions in the region. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama setting back race relations, found by polling data, to pre-Obama levels by propping up dirtbags like Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. I'm sure there is some racism in there, but your claim that it is the pure and simple story is literally fantastical. NOTE: There's also racism the other way, demonstrated by the number of black voters who voted for Obama but wouldn't vote for H. Clinton. Or is that too dirty a secret to mention? I haven't run the numbers, but my bias is that the number of I'll-only-vote-for-the-black-guy, as a percentage of population, is roughly equal to the I'll-only-vote-for-the-white-guy, as a percentage of population.
nine_zeros 6y ago
> I don't get why the Trumpers hate Obama so much... he's always come across as well thought out and pragmatic. I know a lot of people don't want to hear this but a large number of people just can't accept that a Black man should live in the white house. That black man can be the best person in the world and this set of population can still not accept him due to reptilian hatred. You can't generalize every supporter obviously but you can see it from which policies of Trump get the most support. It's not like Trump actually improved quality of life for anyone but he sure did tickle the reptilian hatred.
- sanp 6y ago
  I don't know why this was down voted. This is pretty much it - white non-college educated males went crazy because someone beneath them was President..
gwbas1c 6y ago
There's a fraction of the media that repeats unsubstantiated claims enough that their viewers believe them to be true. Examples: Climate change is a hoax, or Obama is a muslim from an African country. I've lost count of the number of people who I met who blatantly make the above statements as if they are matter-of-fact... Because they watch the media that perpetuates these myths, every single day. So, the vitriol towards Obama comes from a fraction of the media that will stop at nothing to destroy him. (And, before someone goes and says that "the liberal media does it too," remember that the rest of American media does not openly contradict established facts to forward a political agenda.)

> he's always come across as well thought out and pragmatic Some people hate him because he's thoughtful and pragmatic. They appeal to emotion or faith, not intellect. Their goal is cataclysm, not stability. It sounds crazy, it is crazy, but from boogaloo bros to evangelicals it's a lot of Trump's base. Oh, and he's black. That matters a lot to an overlapping segment of that base, outweighing literally any other personal qualities he might have.

jjj123 6y ago
I think you’re missing that Obama’s decency and pragmatism are also emotional appeals to a certain kind of person. Personally it feels like bullshit to me (less bullshitty than Trump but still rings false). More importantly, Obama’s decency or Trump’s lack thereof are mostly irrelevant to what many people want out of a president. For example, I want Medicare for all, a green new deal, no more drone strikes, nationalized internet, etc. We’re more likely to get those things by being angry, not by being civil.
- notacoward 6y ago
  decency and pragmatism are also emotional appeals ... We’re more likely to get those things by being angry I think it's clear whether Obama's supporters or detractors are relying on emotional appeals.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

sremani 6y ago

I do not hate Obama - but his administration's abysmal record in multiple fronts drove me to Trump. Where were the Perp walks? He got chummy with Wall Street and cashed out after his "retirement". He over saw Putin making territorial expansions and was really ineffective containing Russia and China. etc. Color me Furious when a dude with 7 million dollar mansion in DC and Martha's Vineyard complains about not giving up on America.

free_rms 6y ago
I'm not looking to stan Obama, but I have to quibble with "Russian territorial expansions". Losing Ukraine as a de facto puppet state and having to invade to keep critical port infrastructure in the Crimea isn't an expansion, it's a mitigated loss.
tartoran 6y ago
Genuine question. After a Trump term, are you still supporting him? Also, do you see his refusal to concede as legit?
b0sk 6y ago
LOL at mentioning all those things as a factor that "drove" you to Trump. No, you drove yourself to Trump. Trump is literally worse in every point you listed.
netsharc 6y ago
So, you think Obama was a swindler and you voted for Trump? I wouldn't trust your background checking abilities... But I get it, you made a choice and you tried to find a justification for that choice. I saw this speech and Q&A with Yanis Varoufakis the other day, and at one point he reiterated the "Fuck you, establishment!" motivations of Trump and Brexit-voters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGeevtdp1WQ&feature=youtu.be&t=3293 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGeevtdp1WQ&feature=youtu.be... . Voting for Hillary would have meant a continuation of Obama, out of anger or desperation of how shitty their lives had been, many in the electorate thought "Let's just vote for change, it might be shit, or it might be good, at least we know it'll be change.". And IMO Trump voters probably found justification after they made up their minds to vote for him, fooling themselves "He's not shit!" and clutching to empty hopes that Trump will fulfill his car salesman promises...
- netsharc 6y ago
  20 minutes, -2 points. What's wrong with what I wrote? Or did I forget yet again that HN is probably full of "libertarians" and should I wonder why I even come back and try to contribute here...

sk5t 6y ago

Neither of those attributes is relevant to those who would support a demagogue. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/opinion/how-to-protect-america-from-the-next-donald-trump.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/opinion/how-to-protect-am...

erdos4d 6y ago

Cause that's how tribalism works.

omosubi 6y ago

I'm not a trump fan by any means but obama was just another 8 years of bush. he didn't do much to end the wars, wall street got a raise especially those at the very top, no one was held accountable for the financial crisis, he gave more and more jobs away to china, obamacare gave huge profits to the insurance industry (which is why you didn't see republicans repeal it even when controlling the senate and house), he leapt at the chance to help tech companies who didn't need it, he limited civil liberties, and so on. It's so frustrating to see liberals bend over backwards to defend him.

psychometry 6y ago
You're not wrong, but none of those things are why Trumpers hate him. It's racism, pure and simple.
- hnlurker 6y ago
  Given the significant and well documented population of people that voted blue in '12 and red in '16, your claims seem beyond extraordinary and into the land of fantasy. A wise man once said that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. I'm sure it has nothing to do with President Obama leveraging the IRS to explicitly go after conservative groups. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama extrajudicially murdering an American citizen. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama wielding the espionage act to prosecute whistleblowers more than all previous presidents combined. Bonus points for him wiretapping dozens of AP reporters. Yet when Trump tweets a meme gif of him knocking down a pro-wrestler with CNN overlaid on the person's face, he's treated as if he's destroying the 1st amendment and calling to violence; yet Obama is putting actual intense pressure on newspapers for writing bad stories about his administration. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama's anti-semitism displayed in so many ways including paying Iran to continue building a nuclear weapon, legitimizing baby-wielding terrorists, or cutting the legs out from under Israeli led coalitions in the region. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Obama setting back race relations, found by polling data, to pre-Obama levels by propping up dirtbags like Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. I'm sure there is some racism in there, but your claim that it is the pure and simple story is literally fantastical. NOTE: There's also racism the other way, demonstrated by the number of black voters who voted for Obama but wouldn't vote for H. Clinton. Or is that too dirty a secret to mention? I haven't run the numbers, but my bias is that the number of I'll-only-vote-for-the-black-guy, as a percentage of population, is roughly equal to the I'll-only-vote-for-the-white-guy, as a percentage of population.

nine_zeros 6y ago

> I don't get why the Trumpers hate Obama so much... he's always come across as well thought out and pragmatic. I know a lot of people don't want to hear this but a large number of people just can't accept that a Black man should live in the white house. That black man can be the best person in the world and this set of population can still not accept him due to reptilian hatred. You can't generalize every supporter obviously but you can see it from which policies of Trump get the most support. It's not like Trump actually improved quality of life for anyone but he sure did tickle the reptilian hatred.

sanp 6y ago
I don't know why this was down voted. This is pretty much it - white non-college educated males went crazy because someone beneath them was President..

gwbas1c 6y ago

There's a fraction of the media that repeats unsubstantiated claims enough that their viewers believe them to be true. Examples: Climate change is a hoax, or Obama is a muslim from an African country. I've lost count of the number of people who I met who blatantly make the above statements as if they are matter-of-fact... Because they watch the media that perpetuates these myths, every single day. So, the vitriol towards Obama comes from a fraction of the media that will stop at nothing to destroy him. (And, before someone goes and says that "the liberal media does it too," remember that the rest of American media does not openly contradict established facts to forward a political agenda.)