Barack Obama says issues, policies and facts no longer matter to US voters

Former US President Barack Obama spent Sunday night on prime-time television to help peddle his new book, and the 44th President gently avoided questions where he could have blamed current President Donald Trump for the disruption in America. These range from political unrest on American streets to political divisiveness within the Washington, DC Loop.

Obama conducted an interview with Scott Pelley of CBS “60 Minutes.” Pelley asked Obama about the 2020 presidential election, in which Trump won more than 73 million popular votes – far more than he won in 2016.

“It tells us that we are very divided,” Obama said Sunday night. “Like I said. It’s not just politicians, voters are divided.”

Obama then blamed the media and tech companies for letting a division drive a huge wedge between American voters. He said democracy does not work without “informed citizenship” or stronger local elected officials across the country.

The former president said the country has become so divided that it is not the facts, policies and issues that matter to voters, but rather their hatred of the other candidate that drives their votes.

“It has now become a contest where issues, facts, policies – for example – don’t matter as much as who and who wants to beat the other guy. It’s a priority,” Obama said.

Obama said that “the current media environment” adds enormously to this, saying citizens need to be properly informed.

“This democracy does not work if we do not have informed citizens. This democracy does not work if we do not have responsible elected officials at other levels who are ready to call the president when he is not doing something good, ”Obama said.

Obama won the presidency in the 2008 election, defeating former Arizona Senator John McCain to fill the Oval Office after George W. Bush’s two terms. Obama was re-elected in 2012 with a victory over Mitt Romney. Obama has dealt with his share of critics on the Republican side. He even dealt with those in his party who opposed certain issues just so they could be re-elected, Obama added during the “60 minutes” interview.

Pelley and Obama sat next to a painted portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President who presided over Secession and Civil War. Pelley pointed to the paint and asked if America’s hatred and division was similar to Lincoln’s.

“[Lincoln] is a good example of someone who I think deeply understood the need to be able to see another person’s point of view, ”Obama said.

“There is no American figure that I admire more than Abraham Lincoln. But, he ended up with a civil war in his hands. I would like to avoid that. I think a new president can give a new tone. That’s not going to solve all the dead ends in Washington. I think we’re going to have to work with the media and tech companies to find ways to better educate the public about the issues and to strengthen the standards that ensure that we can separate the truth from the fiction. “