UPDATE below.

YouTuber Bryan Tyler Cohen launched a scoop yesterday when he interviewed former US President Barack Obama on topics encompassing current President Donald Trump’s racist ape depiction of his predecessor and his wife, even Bad Bunny, and how the Democrats will win the next election.

The contrast between these two Presidents was breathtaking. Has Obama been Plato’s Philosopher King? At least Trump is not.

I have been critical of Obama’s presidency since I have launched this blog shortly before his election in 2008 (although, I have to admit that I had got goosebumps too when he spoke at Berlin’s Victory Column).

Glad to hear that all this is not the American people what we, across the Atlantic Ocean, perceive at the moment. There still is decency, courtesy, kindness among the vast majority. Norms, rules and institutions are still intact.

So, there is again Hope for Change. Obama seems to tell the diverging people in the Democrats’ party, be it Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), even Nancy Pelosi, how to win the upcoming elections: unite rather than devide.

UPDATE 15 February 2026 @ 12:23 UTC+1.

The title of this post is a remark by Obama early in the interview about what’s happening right now in the White House. I fully agree with him. The post is meant seriously, not ironic.

15 February 2026 @ 11:18 UTC+1.

Last modified February 15, 2026.