Obama Sounds the Alarm in Shocking Video: Says Trump Is Turning U.S. Into a Dictatorship (Watch Video)
Former President Barack Obama recently warned that the United States is getting dangerously close to becoming an autocracy — a type of government where one person has absolute power and there are few or no checks on what they can do. He made these remarks during a private speech in Hartford, Connecticut. The speech wasn’t recorded, but journalists from major outlets reported on what he said.
Obama didn’t mention Donald Trump by name, but he clearly criticized the direction the country has taken under Trump’s influence. He said the current federal leadership seems to care very little about the values and principles that have guided American democracy since at least the end of World War II. He stressed that for a democracy to work, leaders must take their responsibilities seriously and honor their oath to uphold the Constitution. When that doesn’t happen, he said, the country starts to drift toward authoritarianism — similar to what’s happening in places like Hungary under its current leader, Viktor Orbán.
Obama said we’re not fully there yet, but we’re getting worryingly close to accepting undemocratic behavior as normal. That, he warned, would be very hard to recover from. He emphasized that it’s going to take courage and effort from both government officials and regular citizens to stand up and say, “This isn’t right.”
He also pointed out that hard times like these test people’s true beliefs. If you only support democracy when it’s easy or popular, it doesn’t mean much. The real test, he said, is whether people will defend democratic values even when it’s uncomfortable or risky.
Obama’s comments came right after Trump held a massive \$45 million military parade, something many critics said looked more like a show of power you’d see in dictatorships like North Korea or the old Soviet Union. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican, even said the parade reminded him of those authoritarian regimes.
That same day, about 2,000 protests took place across all 50 states under the slogan “No Kings.” The protests were aimed at Trump’s harsh immigration policies and the way he’s trying to centralize power.
It’s worth noting that while Obama himself was criticized in the past for deporting nearly 3 million people during his presidency — earning him the nickname “deporter in chief” — Trump has gone even further and painted previous presidents, including Obama, as weak on immigration. Trump and his immigration team have threatened to arrest local officials in California, like Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, for not cooperating with federal immigration agents.
Recently, federal agents even arrested a U.S. senator — Alex Padilla from California — while he was protesting Trump’s immigration policies. He was reportedly pushed around and handcuffed during a Department of Homeland Security press event.
There’s also been a rise in political violence. Just last weekend, two Democratic state lawmakers from Minnesota and their spouses were shot in attacks that seem to have been politically motivated. One of the lawmakers and her partner died, while the other couple survived.
Obama’s message is clear: the country is in a very fragile place right now, and it’s up to everyone — not just politicians — to stand up for democracy before it’s too late.
