Barack Obama

Used as a comparative benchmark for how the right-wing media would have reacted to similar foreign policy failures.

“... to try to get out of the mess he made. Uh, that's my feeling, but I don't know how much longer it could hold because, like you said, and it's just mindbogg-bogglingly stupid that he's gotten himself into this situation. And, um, there's the old line of, "B…”

Cited as an example of a successful Democrat who ran against the status quo.

“And Bill Clinton was like that in ways, and so was Obama. Like, the successful Democrats have been future-oriented and running against the status quo. And, um, and I think that, you know, that means you can't be like a Luddite about AI and like-”

Discussed as a high-stature surrogate whose presence in Texas could elevate Talarico's campaign.

“You know, I haven't seen his numbers in Texas, but m- my guess is that looking at his numbers nationally, they're not, they're not bad. And, um, uh, there is a... You know, Obama's not campaigning that much for candidates at this juncture. I'm sure he will. Bu…”

Used as a benchmark for political communication and speechwriting, with Axelrod highlighting his ability to make speeches feel organic.

“He apparently... Yeah, yeah, we've seen that, too. He apparently, uh, does a lot of writing. You know, Obama, you know, he had great speechwriters. You worked with some of them. But they would tell you that, you know, they, they would give him a product that w…”

Used as an example of a Senator who maintained high visibility and influence despite being a junior member of the chamber.

“Um, you know, uh, she's got a high class problem here. She'd, she'd get a lot of votes if she ran for president. But I think the way I interpret what she said is, "I'm gonna go where I think I can continue this fight for those things that I believe in and have…”

Mentioned as a candidate who successfully campaigned on a critique of Washington politics.

“There are a lot of factors here. One is that I think we're in an anti-establishment moment, and that's true in both parties. Um, I, I think there is a real jaundice about the status quo. You know, I mentioned earli- you know, 70% of people in polling say the s…”

David Axelrod compares Pete Buttigieg's intellect and clarity of argument to Barack Obama.

“[laughs] Well, look, um, in many... I, I, I've, I've said this before, he is as, um, bright and thoughtful as anybody I've w- I've, I've seen since Barack Obama in terms of his ability to sort of think in interesting ways and, uh, posit arguments in ways that …”

Mentioned as a stylistic reference point for Josh Shapiro's speaking mannerisms.

“Look, he's very talented and very smart. Um, and what he said, I obviously, uh, I obviously agree with. Um, I, um... He's one of the guys who, uh, he, he can slide into sort of pigeon Obama, uh, from time to time, and he, he's taken a lot of, uh, ra- uh, criti…”

David Axelrod is described as a former senior advisor to President Obama.

“Welcome to Pod Save America. I'm Dan Pfeiffer. Joining me today is former senior advisor to President Obama, David Axelrod. You all know Ax. Maybe you've heard him on this pod, listened to either of his shows, Axe on TAP or The Axe Files, or you've likely seen…”

Referenced for his past electoral performance in rural Pennsylvania.

“Yeah, you know, the Sh- Shapiro, it's probably not discussed enough how popular he is in Pennsylvania. Being a popular governor of Pennsylvania is not an easy thing to do. This is a state that Donald Trump has won twice. It has moved away from Democrats demo- …”

Caught on a hot mic expressing frustration with dealing with Netanyahu.

“It's hard to feel sorry for him. In fact, here's one, too. Barack Obama was caught on a hot mic. This is the only time I've ever been sympathetic with Barack Obama. He was caught on a hot mic talking to the president of France, and he goes, "Oh, man, you think…”

Mentioned as a past U.S. president in the context of global power dynamics.

“Government-backed businesses making deals and buying up resources and stuff. But I, I, I really don't think that Xi Jinping is looking at George W. Bush and Barack Obama and Donald Trump and Joe Biden and going, "Yeah, that's what I wanna do for my country is …”

Mentioned for his promise to use military force against Iran if they attempted to develop nuclear weapons.

“Well, I'll tell you that first of all, they're more likely to go ahead and try to break out and make an atom bomb now than ever before, although I'm not necessarily predicting that. I think, you know, Trump has proven by calling their bluff on their latent det…”

Mentioned as a political figure in the context of historical expectations regarding the apocalypse.

“Instead, it's just Obama and Trump, you know?”

Mentioned regarding U.S. involvement in the Syrian conflict.

“And of course, the Soviet Union didn't exist anymore at all by the end of the decade. But that was the premise for the thing. And there's... Oh, and here's what I was gonna say before the glitch, was there is a statement in, I think it's in Coping with Crumbli…”

Sam discusses reading his biography and his perception of his personality during his presidential campaign.

“I'm still judging my opinion on it. I just finished Barack Obama's biography.”

Mentioned as a benchmark for foreign policy decisions that Trump attempts to differentiate himself from.

“Yeah. Look, I mean, the parallels are pretty striking. Um, and the president's, uh, desire, uh, to lunge into foreign affairs and do regime change wars, what he said he wouldn't, instead of sort of investing in domestic renewal and the American heartland, it r…”

Mentioned in the context of Dan Pfeiffer, a member of his team, analyzing polling data.

“... of the voters. This just in, we've got a couple of polls. N- none of them is good news for the Republicans, unfortunately. But, um, here's one from, let's see, uh, pulling it up. Hmm. Brand-new New York Times poll. Dan Pfeiffer of Team Obama, biased, but s…”

Referenced for the period of normalized relations and travel to Cuba during his presidency.

“There was a period under Obama where you could travel to Cuba. Beyonce and Jay-Z did it.”

Mentioned regarding the opening of his presidential library.

“Barack Obama.”

Mentioned as having created smaller settlement funds during his administration, cited as precedent.

“To get into what's unusual about this fund, you, you really actually have to go back to the lawsuit that put this in motion. Trump filed a lawsuit against the IRS seeking more than ten billion dollars based upon when he was included in a leak of tax return inf…”

The President who nominated Lael Brainard to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

“Lael was one of those seven board members. She was nominated by Obama, and she was still there when Trump appointed Powell.”

Referenced as a benchmark for a period when the US was perceived to be safer regarding nuclear deals.

“Oh, wow. That was, that was some quote. That was like an ad. Like they just... He cut an ad for them. It was-- That was astonishing, I have to say. I mean, it's what I, it's what I think he thinks. And this nuclear weapon thing, we're less safe now than we wer…”

Mentioned as an example of a high-profile person they had to interact with professionally.

“And so you have to, like, you have to switch it up. We can't be like, "Oh, fuck you. Yeah, fuck you" in front of like, you know, Michelle Obama or, like, her people.”

Compared favorably for his administration's approach to containing North Korean nuclear threats.

“Why wouldn't they do it? Just look at Kim Jong Un, you know, your friend who you wrote love letters to. Are you gonna write love letters to Kim Jong Un, Donald, when you're in China? Hmm, you know, you're close by, so you're gonna say hi to Kim Jong Un. Becaus…”

Speaker 6 mentions approaching him in 2010 to advocate for rewarding cities that fund their own transit projects.

“... I was doing abundance. In 2012, I went-- '10, I went to Obama, and I said, "Reward cities and counties that are putting up their own money. Allow us to access low-cost loans to build transit." And then I said, "Put NEPA and CEQA together s- to cut time," b…”

Referenced for his opposition to the gas tax suspension during the 2008 primary.

“You guys, yeah, I had to think about that too, 'cause it was like the mandate fight. Who was... No. You guys, when we did the Indiana and North Carolina primaries, Cl- Hillary was, uh, saying we should suspend the da- the gas tax and, and Obama was saying that…”

Referenced in relation to the original Iran nuclear deal and US credibility.

“Um, you have ripped up the previous, uh, agreement, and you may not have liked it, but it was negotiated in good faith by the United States, which you can, you know, which, uh, uh, uh, whose authority c- came from Obama to you. So you've kind of undermined our…”

Mentioned as a figure that current politicians are attempting to emulate through rhetorical flourish.

“They're all just cos- they're all just cosplaying Obama, hoping rhetorical flourish and talking about breaking bread with Jews and Muslims, and we need to come together.”

Provided advice to Brian Chesky about focusing on what one wants to do rather than who one wants to be.

“that. Don't try to be successful. Try to do something wonderful that you love for yourself. Maybe you'll be successful, maybe you don't, but don't focus on who you wanna be. Focus on what you wanna do. That was the advice President Obama once told me. He said,…”