Obama steps out as nation confronts confluence of crises
Source: AP
By JULIE PACE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is taking on an increasingly public role as the nation confronts a confluence of historic crises that has exposed deep racial and socioeconomic inequalities in America and reshaped the November election.
In doing so, Obama is signaling a willingness to sharply critique his successor, President Donald Trump, and fill what many Democrats see as a national leadership void. On Wednesday, he held a virtual town hall event with young people to discuss policing and the civil unrest that has followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Obama rejected a debate he said he’d seen come up in “a little bit of chatter on the internet” about “voting versus protests, politics and participation versus civil disobedience and direct action.”
“This is not an either-or. This is a both and to bring about real change,” he said. “We both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable, but we also have to translate that into practical solutions and laws that could be implemented and monitored and make sure we’re following up on.”
FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2018, file photo, former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic candidates in Miami. Nearly eight years after he was last on the ballot, Obama is emerging as a central figure in the 2020 presidential election. Democrats are eagerly embracing Obama as a political wingman for Joe Biden, who spent two terms by his side as vice president. Obama remains the party’s most popular figure, particularly with black voters and younger Democrats. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/28a484fcdb4d903108a889ad2476b745
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Here is the PBS one -
