LIGHTEN UP

Obama Admits Democrats Can Sometimes Be a ‘Buzzkill’

He said Democrats too often frame things through identity politics.

Former President Barack Obama chastised how Democrats can sometimes be a “buzzkill,” too often framing issues through the lens of identity politics that force people to feel as though they’re “walking on eggshells.” “Sometimes people just want to not feel as if they are walking on eggshells, and they want some acknowledgment that life is messy and that all of us, at any given moment, can say things the wrong way, make mistakes,” he said on the podcast “Pod Save America.” He later added: “I think where we get into trouble sometimes is where we try to suggest that some groups are more—because they historically have been victimized more—that somehow they have a status that’s different than other people and we’re going around scolding folks if they don’t use exactly the right phrase.” Obama has launched his biennial campaign tour, hitting the campaign trail later this month for candidates in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan.