Obama hops aboard Mamdani’s socialist bandwagon
With socialism no longer a dirty word in the American political lexicon and a central plank of the modern Democratic Party, it should come as little surprise that Barack Obama is finally reveling in his socialist bona fides.
Chris Talgo | April 22, 2026
For many years, former President Barack Obama has been accused of being a closet socialist. When Obama was running for the White House in 2008 and 2012, he downplayed his relationships with socialists like Bill Ayers.
The genius of Obama’s two victorious presidential campaigns was his ability to portray himself as a pragmatic politician pursuing a middle-of-the-road policy agenda when in fact Obama has been more than sympathetic to socialism in America since the beginning of his political rise.
In 2012, Forbes published an article titled, “Is President Obama Truly A Socialist?,” which noted that, “Pew Research finds that sixty percent of Americans respond negatively to ‘socialism.’ It is clear why President Barack Obama must avoid that label. Words are important.”
While Obama went out of his way to never refer to himself as a socialist, he did generally govern in the direction that most socialists would approve. Obama’s signature policy achievement, the Affordable Care Act, was derided by many who argued it was anti-free market and a step towards socialism.
During his two terms, Obama toed the collectivist line quite nimbly. Under the radar, his administration pushed what can be described as stealth socialism. His policies were wealth redistributionist in nature, but Obama abstained (for the most part) from openly advocating for a socialist revolution when he was in the Oval Office.
In the years since Obama departed 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and bought mansions all over the country (not very socialist of him!), socialism has become much less of a taboo. In fact, in the decade or so since Obama became a private citizen, socialism has exploded in popularity, particularly among young Americans.
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