At his last press conference of the year, the president seemed curiously detached from the threat Donald Trump poses to American democracy. Walking into the Oval Office will “sober” America’s bigliest plutocrat, he insisted. As for Russia? Don’t worry. He told Putin to “cut it out.”
It was a thoroughly underwhelming performance:
Obama comes off as more of a disinterested observer of US politics, rather than the leader of the free world. His greatest failure IMO
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) December 16, 2016
It's sort of amazing to watch Obama, ever the Institutionalist, sipping coffee in the house on fire saying "This is fine."
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) December 16, 2016
Everyone else: pic.twitter.com/GSC3XlkFMw
— Ishaan Tharoor (@ishaantharoor) December 16, 2016
But this is precisely what everyone should have expected from Obama today. He’s evinced little doubt in the integrity of this country’s institutions, and is unprepared to admit that our institutions failed us, from the Democratic Party to the Electoral College. (Though he did blame the media’s “obsession” with pseudo-controversies for Hillary Clinton’s loss.) He is constitutionally incapable of channeling the anger that people are feeling.
To quote Solomon: There’s a time to be silent and a time to speak. This is the time to speak. Or rather, it was.