Obama takes new swipe at Founding Fathers ahead of America’s 250th birthday: 'Deep flaw'

[mystery-ak]

Obama takes new swipe at Founding Fathers ahead of America’s 250th birthday: 'Deep flaw'
The 44th president made the remarks in an interview as Americans prepare to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday
By Ashley J. DiMella Fox News
Published June 29, 2026 3:04pm EDT

Former President Barack Obama took aim at the Founding Fathers ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, saying they held a "deep flaw" for their ties to slavery despite being "geniuses."

"I think sometimes we get confused in thinking that these two stories are separate. They're intertwined, right? Which is why it's possible for me to be a great admirer of George Washington, and also acknowledge he was a slaveholder," said Obama in an interview Sunday with MSNOW.

The 44th president's appearance comes as most Americans prepare to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday on Saturday with patriotic events across the country, while Obama is using the milestone to deliver a more cautionary message about the state of American democracy.

"That does not negate [Washington’s] greatness, it simply acknowledges that there's a profound deep flaw in these Founding Fathers who were also geniuses and gave us these tools," Obama said.

"It’s that we're this mixed bag, we've got contradictions. And embody the country's contradictions," he added.

Obama has been making many media appearances leading up to and following the opening of his presidential center in Chicago earlier this month. The expansive center includes a museum, library branch, community programming and is intended as a legacy project tied to Obama’s political roots on Chicago’s South Side.

more
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-takes-new-swipe-founding-fathers-ahead-americas-250th-birthday-deep-flaw

[IsailedawayfromFR]

This fella has no grace.

People of America elected in twice to the highest honor in the world yet he takes shots at our Founding instead of being grateful for the country.

America saw past color to elect him yet everything he talks about is either about race or himself.

He is vermin as he pollutes the very food we store for eating.

The biggest egocentric ever.

[Kamaji]

He’s not necessarily wrong.  He said, for example, that Geo Washington was a genius, but he was also a slaveowner, and that makes GW flawed.  I’m not sure what the objection is here. It’s a rather anodyne statement.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Any student of history and literature knows that most heroes are flawed.

George Washington was a slave owner.  John Hancock was a rum runner.  Sam Adams was a fall-down drunk.  John Adams defended the British soldiers tried for the Boston Massacre.  Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land because he took the Lord's name in vain when drawing water from a stone.

At the MLK breakfasts on MLK's Birthday, why doesn't anyone mention that J. Edgar Hoover allegedly recorded Martin Luther King, Jr., cheating on his wife with a bug recording device in a hotel room?

The Obama crowd can't let any heterosexual Christian white male of Western European descent be recognized for a good accomplishment with besmirching their legacies in the same breath.

[Fantom]

He’s not necessarily wrong.  He said, for example, that Geo Washington was a genius, but he was also a slaveowner, and that makes GW flawed.  I’m not sure what the objection is here. It’s a rather anodyne statement.

No, being a slave-owner in the 1700's .. particularly in what would become America. Does not make a man flawed.  It was the way things were .. worldwide. No White ever enslaved a black man.. they were sold into bondage by their brothers.. fellow black men.

As were. most White slaves at the time.. actually taken in raids from their homelands as far north as Norway.... by blacks.

[Wingnut]

Bath house Barry was and is deeply flawed. People saw the Kenyan as the great black hope.  He was the Oreo we were waiting for.

[Fantom]

Bath house Barry was and is deeply flawed. People saw the Kenyan as the great black hope.  He was the Oreo we were waiting for.

Slick Willie was the better "first" black President.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Obama ate a dog.  That makes him a flawed in some peoples eyes.

Also, he was born a Leo, so, that may also make him a flawed person.

Can't Obama ever let white people get caught doing something right?

[Cyber Liberty]

He’s not necessarily wrong.  He said, for example, that Geo Washington was a genius, but he was also a slaveowner, and that makes GW flawed.  I’m not sure what the objection is here. It’s a rather anodyne statement.

It's not the content of O'Bastard's speech, it's the timing.

[Bigun]

Obama, like everyone, is entitled to his opinions. No one is required to agree with any of them. At least not yet.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

He’s not necessarily wrong.  He said, for example, that Geo Washington was a genius, but he was also a slaveowner, and that makes GW flawed.  I’m not sure what the objection is here. It’s a rather anodyne statement.

We are all flawed.  God told us as much.

[Bigun]

We are all flawed.  God told us as much.

 

[berdie]

I really get annoyed when people compare and criticize the situations of yesterday with today.

Of course slavery was heinous, but was common during the time. Not just here but elsewhere.

Although only one of the reasons the Civil War was fought was slavery...a brutal, bloody war was fought that rectified the matter.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I really get annoyed when people compare and criticize the situations of yesterday with today.

Of course slavery was heinous, but was common during the time. Not just here but elsewhere.

Although only one of the reasons the Civil War was fought was slavery...a brutal, bloody war was fought that rectified the matter.

The Western World is credited with abolishing slavery.  It still exists in many parts of the world.

Those are the places that should be condemned.

[Fantom]

I really get annoyed when people compare and criticize the situations of yesterday with today.

Of course slavery was heinous, but was common during the time. Not just here but elsewhere.

Although only one of the reasons the Civil War was fought was slavery...a brutal, bloody war was fought that rectified the matter.

And yet, had not blacks been sold into slavery by their black brothers. Most blacks in the USA .. would still be in Africa...hmmn. Who is better off?

[Timber Rattler]

Idiot never bothered to find out that Washington was entirely constrained by Virginia law at the time, which was the same quandary Robert E. Lee found himself in after his father-in-law George Custis died...most of the "dower slaves" were owned by their wives as part of hereditary estates and could not be easily sold or freed.

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/9662hpr-895a93c98aa151f/

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/george-washingtons-will

[Fantom]

The Western World is credited with abolishing slavery.  It still exists in many parts of the world.

Those are the places that should be condemned.

Yep.   

[Kamaji]

No, being a slave-owner in the 1700's .. particularly in what would become America. Does not make a man flawed.  It was the way things were .. worldwide. No White ever enslaved a black man.. they were sold into bondage by their brothers.. fellow black men.

As were. most White slaves at the time.. actually taken in raids from their homelands as far north as Norway.... by blacks.

Yes, it does make a man - or a woman, for that matter - flawed.  Particularly in 1789.

Just because "that's the way things were" is about as stupid and asinine an explanation as "yeah, Dad, I jumped off the cliff because all my friends were jumping off the cliff."

The fact that a practice may be widespread does not excuse it, justify it, or make it right.

Slavery is, was, and always has been morally wrong.  And the fact that the Founders wrote limits on slavery into the Constitution demonstrated beyond any cavil that they recognized it as wrong.  They simply didn't have the courage to do the right thing, particularly those who relied on plantations, and that is what makes them flawed.

In this case Obama is like the stopped clock, which nonetheless still tells the correct time twice a day.

[Kamaji]

We are all flawed.  God told us as much.

Absolutely agree.  The individuality often has to do with the ideosyncracies of our flaws.  That being said, slavery was a rather prosaically common flaw, but it was flawed nonetheless.

[berdie]

Yes, it does make a man - or a woman, for that matter - flawed.  Particularly in 1789.

Just because "that's the way things were" is about as stupid and asinine an explanation as "yeah, Dad, I jumped off the cliff because all my friends were jumping off the cliff."

The fact that a practice may be widespread does not excuse it, justify it, or make it right.

Slavery is, was, and always has been morally wrong.  And the fact that the Founders wrote limits on slavery into the Constitution demonstrated beyond any cavil that they recognized it as wrong.  They simply didn't have the courage to do the right thing, particularly those who relied on plantations, and that is what makes them flawed.

In this case Obama is like the stopped clock, which nonetheless still tells the correct time twice a day.

As I previously said, applying the norms of the past to today is futile. There are many "social norms" during the past that are scorned today as they should be. As wrong as it was in those times blacks were not considered to be human. Wrong? Of course.  But that was how it was.

[Bigun]

Absolutely agree.  The individuality often has to do with the ideosyncracies of our flaws.  That being said, slavery was a rather prosaically common flaw, but it was flawed nonetheless.

Who is more flawed? Is it the person who buys a very expensive slave in the marketplace and takes cradle to grave responsibility for him and his offspring forever afterward or is it the person who hires a fresh off the boat Irish immigrant, pays him barely enough to provide food, clothing, and shelter for his family while requiring him to work 12 hours a day 6 days a week until he dies and takes no responsibility for anything? 

[bigheadfred]

Yes, it does make a man - or a woman, for that matter - flawed.  Particularly in 1789.

Just because "that's the way things were" is about as stupid and asinine an explanation as "yeah, Dad, I jumped off the cliff because all my friends were jumping off the cliff."

The fact that a practice may be widespread does not excuse it, justify it, or make it right.

Slavery is, was, and always has been morally wrong.  And the fact that the Founders wrote limits on slavery into the Constitution demonstrated beyond any cavil that they recognized it as wrong.  They simply didn't have the courage to do the right thing, particularly those who relied on plantations, and that is what makes them flawed.

In this case Obama is like the stopped clock, which nonetheless still tells the correct time twice a day.

 

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Who is more flawed? Is it the person who buys a very expensive slave in the marketplace and takes cradle to grave responsibility for him and his offspring forever afterward or is it the person who hires a fresh off the boat Irish immigrant, pays him barely enough to provide food, clothing, and shelter for his family while requiring him to work 12 hours a day 6 days a week until he dies and takes no responsibility for anything? 

Exactly.  The Irish were handled unmercifully as a group once they landed in NY.

And who was treated worse, blacks here or the American Indians who were pushed off their land and almost wiped out?

[roamer_1]

Yes, it does make a man - or a woman, for that matter - flawed.  Particularly in 1789.

Just because "that's the way things were" is about as stupid and asinine an explanation as "yeah, Dad, I jumped off the cliff because all my friends were jumping off the cliff."

The fact that a practice may be widespread does not excuse it, justify it, or make it right.

Slavery is, was, and always has been morally wrong.  And the fact that the Founders wrote limits on slavery into the Constitution demonstrated beyond any cavil that they recognized it as wrong.  They simply didn't have the courage to do the right thing, particularly those who relied on plantations, and that is what makes them flawed.

In this case Obama is like the stopped clock, which nonetheless still tells the correct time twice a day.

Easy to say from the backside of things. Slavery existed and was normal from time immemorial until the distinctly Protestant emancipation began in England in the 1800s, and bled over (quite literally) into the States in the conditions surrounding the Civil War.

I will grant you that the argument existed prior to the establishment of the United States, and may have even been gaining political steam. But it was by no means normalized by that time - Else the DOI would have been worded differently. The concept that 'All Men Were Created Equal by Their Creator' was enshrined therein - But the truth of that, and the argument wrt all races being defined as men came later, as did the genesis thereof wrt females.

The United States shares with Britain the proud history of leading the way in the matter of emancipation, later overcome in the whole of Christendom, due in great part to our Founders inscribing and enshrining those immortal words.

Flawed, my ass.

[Cyber Liberty]

Easy to say from the backside of things. Slavery existed and was normal from time immemorial until the distinctly Protestant emancipation began in England in the 1800s, and bled over (quite literally) into the States in the conditions surrounding the Civil War.

I will grant you that the argument existed prior to the establishment of the United States, and may have even been gaining political steam But it was by no means normalized by that time - Else the DOI would have been worded differently. The concept that 'All Men Were Created Equal by Their Creator' was enshrined therein - But the truth of that, and the argument wrt all races being defined as men came later, as did the genesis thereof wrt females.

The United States shares with Britain the proud history of leading the way in the matter of emancipation, Later overcome in the whole of Christendom, due in great part to our Founders inscribing and enshrining those immortal words.

Flawed, my ass.

It's so easy for the left-thinkers to lay all blame on the very people who staked their lives on the proposition that All peoples are created equal....

[Smokin Joe]

He’s not necessarily wrong.  He said, for example, that Geo Washington was a genius, but he was also a slaveowner, and that makes GW flawed.  I’m not sure what the objection is here. It’s a rather anodyne statement.

AFAIK, there has only been one who was truly perfect. He got nailed to a cross.

Slavery has been common throughout history, but the Founders wrought a government which did abolish Slavery, and not just for slaves. It still exists in parts of the world.
Not all slaves were black, not all owners were white, and the indigenous peoples here had slaves long before Europeans arrived.

[Cyber Liberty]

AFAIK, there has only been one who was truly perfect. He got nailed to a cross.

Slavery has been common throughout history, but the Founders wrought a government which did abolish Slavery, and not just for slaves. It still exists in parts of the world.
Not all slaves were black, not all owners were white, and the indigenous peoples here had slaves long before Europeans arrived.

And we'd be damned if we point out which party was birthed to stop slavery, and which party fights to keep black people enslaved to this day.

[roamer_1]

It's so easy for the left-thinkers to lay all blame on the very people who staked their lives on the proposition that All peoples are created equal....

It ASTOUNDS me. 

[Smokin Joe]

Well, at least the Founders had better taste in Architecture.

[Hoodat]

He’s not necessarily wrong.  He said, for example, that Geo Washington was a genius, but he was also a slaveowner, and that makes GW flawed.

Why are slave owners maligned while those enslaving other humans and selling those slaves (like Obama's African ancestors) are not?

[Smokin Joe]

Why are slave owners maligned while those enslaving other humans and selling those slaves (like Obama's African ancestors) are not?

Yeah. Fatigue. Over something that was eliminated here from 1865 until 1913.

[Free Vulcan]

Obama is a priggish little pantywaste scold who thinks he's judge and jury over...pretty much everything, yet seems to never be capable of much more than talking out his butt.

[catfish1957]

You know what I view as flawed?

The most devisive POTUS in this country's history, who used race baiting and angry rhetoric to incite division, hatred, and a culture in legislation that basically destroyed the ability for our government to function in a bipartisan fashion.

Bath house Barry can go to hell, and take his Wookie with him.

[verga]

Idiot never bothered to find out that Washington was entirely constrained by Virginia law at the time, which was the same quandary Robert E. Lee found himself in after his father-in-law George Custis died...most of the "dower slaves" were owned by their wives as part of hereditary estates and could not be easily sold or freed.

https://encyclopediavirginia.org/9662hpr-895a93c98aa151f/

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/george-washingtons-will

@Timber Rattler HEY, I have told you at least once before, "Stop confusing the issue with facts."
You keep speaking the truth and people might actually learn something.
 

[escapeefromtaxachusetts]

How do you apply standards of 18th century to today? We have evolved, mostly for the better and the brilliance of the Founding Fathers is still a light among nations. Read the Federalist Papers and see that Madison et al  worked to create a new world with checks and balances and rights  the world hadn't seen or seen  written into law.

[Bigun]

@Timber Rattler HEY, I have told you at least once before, "Stop confusing the issue with facts."
You keep speaking the truth and people might actually learn something.
 

I guess there is always hope.

[Kamaji]

Wow. I get it.  Slavery was just like apple pie and mom, right up until … what … 1865?

[roamer_1]

Wow. I get it.  Slavery was just like apple pie and mom, right up until … what … 1865?

Oh Bullcrap. I, at least, already conceded (for the argument) that the subject of emancipation preexisted the establishment of the US - But it wasn't DONE in practice. It was a theological argument. It wasn't made REAL until England 1850s, and then the US in the late 1800s. Prior to that, it didn't exist, anywhere, ever.. Prior to that, labor systems were still trying to function under the old feudal serf relationship, long, long after its collapse...

It is no surprise that emancipation found its traction in England. There is a direct, cultural linkage all the way back to the Magna Carta and the rise of the Middle Class - That was the beginning of employers willing to pay a wage - To offer a means to rise above your station... That not only freed entrepreneurs, but also provided an organizational method toward skilled labor in the wrappings of guild houses and companies. Free entrepreneurs brought with them the concept of freed labor... And likewise, it is no surprise than America followed.

[Kamaji]

Oh Bullcrap. I, at least, already conceded (for the argument) that the subject of emancipation preexisted the establishment of the US - But it wasn't DONE in practice. It was a theological argument. It wasn't made REAL until England 1850s, and then the US in the late 1800s. Prior to that, it didn't exist, anywhere, ever.. Prior to that, labor systems were still trying to function under the old feudal serf relationship, long, long after its collapse...

It is no surprise that emancipation found its traction in England. There is a direct, cultural linkage all the way back to the Magna Carta and the rise of the Middle Class - That was the beginning of employers willing to pay a wage - To offer a means to rise above your station... That not only freed entrepreneurs, but also provided an organizational method toward skilled labor in the wrappings of guild houses and companies. Free entrepreneurs brought with them the concept of freed labor... And likewise, it is no surprise than America followed.

In other words, the Founders knew what the right thing to do was, they just failed to do it for a variety of personal reasons.

That is almost the dictionary definition of a flawed person, so thank you for proving my point.

[bigheadfred]

Wow. I get it.  Slavery was just like apple pie and mom, right up until … what … 1865?

Slavery was morally acceptable for near the entirety of it's existence. 

[DefiantMassRINO]

According to the Obama crowd ... white can do no right.

[Cyber Liberty]

Slavery was morally acceptable for near the entirety of it's existence. 

It's still acceptable in the shitholes of the world, like Africa.

[roamer_1]

In other words, the Founders knew what the right thing to do was, they just failed to do it for a variety of personal reasons.

That is almost the dictionary definition of a flawed person, so thank you for proving my point.

ALL people are flawed. All systems are flawed, and run by flawed people. All we can hope for - The very pinnacle of excellence - is to fail toward the better (Till Shiloh come). And that being said, I doubt that you can point to anywhere else in all history where that excellence has been ensconced within anything nearly as profound as the linkage from the Magna Carta to the US Constitution. And our Founders are a massive part of that endeavor. The ideas brought forth by them were utterly unheard of. Stunning. Profound. Beautiful.

We live in the bounty of that moment, and stand upon their shoulders, even today. That you can stand here today and spout ignorance, is a direct testament to those folks. That you cannot imagine what came before is the very evidence that their endeavors bore fruit.

Like I said, it's easy to criticize after the fact... It's another whole thing in the doing.

[bigheadfred]

ALL people are flawed. All systems are flawed, and run by flawed people. All we can hope for - The very pinnacle of excellence - is to fail toward the better (Till Shiloh come). And that being said, I doubt that you can point to anywhere else in all history where that excellence has been ensconced within anything nearly as profound as the linkage from the Magna Carta to the US Constitution. And our Founders are a massive part of that endeavor. The ideas brought forth by them were utterly unheard of. Stunning. Profound. Beautiful.

We live in the bounty of that moment, and stand upon their shoulders, even today. That you can stand here today and spout ignorance, is a direct testament to those folks. That you cannot imagine what came before is the very evidence that their endeavors bore fruit.

Like I said, it's easy to criticize after the fact... It's another whole thing in the doing.

 

[Cyber Liberty]

ALL people are flawed. All systems are flawed, and run by flawed people. All we can hope for - The very pinnacle of excellence - is to fail toward the better (Till Shiloh come). And that being said, I doubt that you can point to anywhere else in all history where that excellence has been ensconced within anything nearly as profound as the linkage from the Magna Carta to the US Constitution. And our Founders are a massive part of that endeavor. The ideas brought forth by them were utterly unheard of. Stunning. Profound. Beautiful.

We live in the bounty of that moment, and stand upon their shoulders, even today. That you can stand here today and spout ignorance, is a direct testament to those folks. That you cannot imagine what came before is the very evidence that their endeavors bore fruit.

Like I said, it's easy to criticize after the fact... It's another whole thing in the doing.

 

We are all flawed, it's the fallen nature of humanity.  The only unflawed person I know was nailed to a cross about 2,000 years ago.

[andy58-in-nh]

The Left judges Western society and culture only by its flaws, while measuring its adversaries only by their empty promises.

[cato potatoe]

I would love to get Ben Franklin’s take on the Obama presidency. 

[Kamaji]

ALL people are flawed. All systems are flawed, and run by flawed people. All we can hope for - The very pinnacle of excellence - is to fail toward the better (Till Shiloh come). And that being said, I doubt that you can point to anywhere else in all history where that excellence has been ensconced within anything nearly as profound as the linkage from the Magna Carta to the US Constitution. And our Founders are a massive part of that endeavor. The ideas brought forth by them were utterly unheard of. Stunning. Profound. Beautiful.

We live in the bounty of that moment, and stand upon their shoulders, even today. That you can stand here today and spout ignorance, is a direct testament to those folks. That you cannot imagine what came before is the very evidence that their endeavors bore fruit.

Like I said, it's easy to criticize after the fact... It's another whole thing in the doing.

Thank you for continuing to agree with me, and with Obama on this point.

[roamer_1]

Slavery was morally acceptable for near the entirety of it's existence. 

That needs way more emphasis. 

Since the very beginning - Since the very oldest manuscripts we own, slavery has been morally acceptable. Even the big republics we have patterned after, endorsed and practiced slavery. And lest we forget, there but for the grace of God, go we.

[andy58-in-nh]

I would love to get Ben Franklin’s take on the Obama presidency.

@cato potatoe

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain — and most fools do."

- Benjamin Franklin