Last week, former President Barack Obama had some choice words for the slate of 2020 potential Democratic presidential nominee, warning those who hope to take on President Donald Trump not to go “too far left.”
Now some far-left Democrats want to cancel Obama.
Using the hashtag “#TooFarLeft,” leftists like Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and former Hillary Clinton advisor Peter Daou sniped back at Obama, bashing the former president for being out of touch with the modern Democrat Party.
“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision, we also have to be rooted in reality,” Obama told a group of Democrat donors at a dinner event on Friday evening. “The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.”
Obama seemed to be referencing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), specifically, and some Democrats’ plan to replace the Affordable Care Act — a hallmark piece of legislation from the Obama White House — with a costly and expansive “Medicare for All” plan that would likely strip away Americans’ private insurance options and hike taxes on Americans across the board, but he didn’t make any specific statements.
“I don’t think we should be deluded into thinking that the resistance to certain approaches to things is simply because voters haven’t heard a bold enough proposal and if they hear something as bold as possible then immediately that’s going to activate them,” he added.
His theories are borne out by poll numbers. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll that shook the Democratic slate to the core showed the “moderate” former Vice President Joe Biden as the only candidate challenging President Donald Trump in “battleground” states, not “progressives” like Warren and Sanders. More recent polls in Iowa show Biden and the recently moderate South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg leading the field. Buttigieg jumped more than 10 points in the poll, leapfrogging Sanders and Warren.
Warren, conversely, has been in a polling free-fall.
But if Obama speaks the truth, Democrats — particularly far-left Democrats — aren’t interested in hearing it. In response to Obama’s comments, “#TooFarLeft” started trending on Twitter, as progressives attempted to prove Obama wrong.
“TOO. FAR. LEFT,” tweeted Daou, taking credit for the hashtag. “I launched the #TooFarLeft tag because I’ve had it with Republicans, media elites, and corporate Dems enabling fascists while denigrating those who seek economic and social justice as ‘too far left.’ I’d like to ONCE hear them complain America is too far right.”
More importantly, Omar chimed in.
If being #TooFarLeft means believing:
✅ Healthcare is a human right
✅ Future generations should live on a healthy planet
✅ All student debt should be cancelled
✅ The minimum wage should be $15
✅ Lives depend on gun reform
✅ Families don’t belong in cagesCount me in! 💪🏽
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 16, 2019
Even Hollywood got involved, chastising their once-favorite politician.
“I am #TooFarLeft because I believe that we cannot let greed cause the collapse of the ecosystem that supports all human life on earth,” tweeted sitcom star Jon Cryer.
It turns out, they might have noticed Obama wasn’t the savior they thought he was: “Dear @BarackObama, While you are comfortable in your $15 million mansion, Americans are suffering. People are dying because they can’t afford Healthcare, people are homeless, children go without school meals, the planet is dying. Is it really #TooFarLeft to care about humanity?” one former fan snapped back.