(LifeSiteNews) — Former President Barack Obama has been fairly quiet the past few years, at least when it comes to public appearances. Sure, he’s spoken at various events to take cheap shots at President Donald Trump, but by and large you don’t really hear about him any more.
When Joe Biden lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, many political commentators speculated that it was actually Obama who was pulling the strings behind the scenes. That’s probably right given Biden’s progressively poor mental health.
Whatever really went on during those four years, the 62-year-old former president seems to be speaking out now more than ever. Obama appeared on a podcast this week hosted by Marc Maron. He told Maron that he believes democracy in the U.S. is under attack.
“A lot of the norms, civic habits, expectations, institutional guardrails that we had, that we took for granted for our democracy, have been weakened deliberately. I don’t think they’re destroyed, but I think they have been damaged, and they’ve been systematic about it,” he remarked.
Obama repeated that line during a conversation he had with three alumni of the Obama Foundation’s global leadership program. He had sharp criticism for Hungary and Poland in particular.
“I’ve become increasingly concerned about the rising wave of authoritarianism sweeping the globe,” Obama said in a recent promotional video. “We’re seeing politicians target civil society, undermine freedom of the press, weaponize the justice system.”
What Obama fails to tell his viewers is that the alumni he spoke with are far from non-partisan “defenders of democracy.” In fact, they are left-wing ideologues.
Zuzanna Rudzinska-Bluszcz was the Deputy Justice Minister for Poland from 2023 until 2025. The Obama Foundation website recalls that she won “more than 30 landmark civil and human rights cases, focusing especially on marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ community, migrants and refugees, and political dissidents.”
Sándor Léderer, who is from Hungary, is hailed on Obama’s website for leading an “anti-corruption” watchdog group called K-Monitor. While that might sound nice on paper, in reality, it simply seeks to undermine Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his pro-family, pro-life reforms. It is also worth mentioning that K-Monitor receives around 15 percent of its annual revenue from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
The third person Obama spoke with is Stefania Kapronczay, who serves as co-director of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, an organization that focuses on defending so-called “reproductive rights,” among other liberal causes.
Balázs Orbán rebuked Obama on social media for his deceitfulness. Orbán is the political director of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
‼️ The Left’s playbook hasn’t changed: deploy Soros-funded “experts” to deliver distant lectures and level vague, evidence-free accusations against a sovereign nation. It comes as no surprise that @BarackObama — a long-time advocate of globalist ideology & identity politics — is… https://t.co/4lLawgW8U6
— Balázs Orbán (@BalazsOrban_HU) October 12, 2025
“Barack Obama is not concerned about democracy – he is concerned about preserving the dominance of the liberal elite. Their anxious reaction is the clearest sign: they know the growing power of sovereign nations is closing the chapter on their era,” Orbán remarked in an X post.
‘The Left’s playbook hasn’t changed: deploy Soros-funded ‘experts’ to deliver distant lectures and level vague, evidence-free accusations against a sovereign nation. It comes as no surprise that Barack Obama – a long-time advocate of globalist ideology & identity politics – is unsettled by a Hungary that has consistently and successfully defended its sovereignty against international pressure for the past 15 years,” he continued.
“We should remember that this is the same person who once sent his senior foreign policy official, Victoria Nuland, armed with a two-page list of demands detailing how Hungary should restructure its constitution. Mr. Obama, this approach has grown tiresome. Hungary neither requires your validation nor seeks your permission. The nation’s future will – and must – be determined solely by the will of the Hungarian people,” he added.
Orbán’s rebuke is spot on. He should be praised for his remarks.
Conservative actor James Woods also noted Obama’s hypocrisy. Woods said on X that Obama is “lamenting the weaponization of the justice system under President Trump, with a perfectly straight face no less. Anybody who was even awake since 2016 now can see this grifter lying right into the camera in real time.”
This slick weasel is lamenting the weaponization of the justice system under President Trump, with a perfectly straight face no less. Anybody who was even awake since 2016 now can see this grifter lying right into the camera in real time. pic.twitter.com/Ar38xc216k
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) October 11, 2025
Good on Woods and Orbán for calling Obama’s charade out. The political right needs to continue to expose the lie that Obama and his leftist colleagues are “defenders of democracy.”
