Even after years of him being out of office, ABC’s Good Morning America still swoons over Barack Obama. During an interview with the former president aired Friday morning, GMA co-host Michael Strahan fondly recalled how Obama “ran on hope” in 2008 and wondered: “How can people get that hope back?”
Referring to Obama’s latest book and his presidential campaign slogan, Strahan gushed: “In the Promised Land, you talk about hope. The country is built on hope. Pioneers, abolitionists, civil rights workers. You ran on hope.” A soundbite ran of Obama from January 3, 2008 proclaiming: “We are choosing hope over fear and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.”
“We’re now in 2021, and we have the pandemic, the insurrection, racial reckoning. A lot of people feel like they’ve lost hope. How can people get that hope back?,” Strahan asked. The headline on screen announced: “One-On-One With President Obama; On Helping People Get Hope Back.”
Obama advised viewers: “You get hope back, for me at least, taking the long view and recognizing that resilience, determination, the ability to deal with setbacks and disappointments and keep going, you know, that those are qualities that can carry us forward.”
The friendly exchange, conducted as part of an ABC Juneteenth special, began with Strahan observing:
I remember being in school and they had all the presidents. And they had every president up there, you would look at that list and you would say, “I want to be president.” But I don’t think you could believe it. Now, when they look at that, your face is up there. And a lot of people will look and say it signifies, since you’ve been elected president, that we moved on from the issue of race. What do you say to that?
Obama denied “that by virtue of my election somehow we entered into a post-racial world” and argued “a lot of barriers still exist for a whole lot of folks.” He insisted that the system was rigged against women and minorities:
When you look at that list of presidents, we still haven’t seen a woman....So something is happening in our society that prevents them from ascending to the highest office in the land. The same is true for African-Americans, the same is true for Latinos, and the first Americans, Native Americans. The odds are stacked in ways that prevent a lot of young people from realizing their potential. And we can do something about it.
Later in the softball chat, Strahan lamented: “There’s so many people out there who the idea of the American dream, they can’t visualize – they can’t see it anymore. So what is it going to take for people to be able to realize and envision the American dream again?”
Obama agreed: “Well, look, historically the American dream has been a reality for some and a myth for others....a lot of communities around the country, where the kids who grow up here may formally be free, but structurally, because of poverty, because of schools that aren’t working, because of substandard housing, it requires so much more effort for them to live out that American dream.”
Through the lens of the leftist media, electing Democrats always equals “hope” and chance to fix all of America’s problems.
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Here is a full transcript of the June 18 interview:
8:15 AM ET
AMY ROBACH: And now to Michael’s one-on-one with former President Barack Obama, talking about race, resilience, and finding hope again. It’s all part of ABC’s Juneteenth special. Take a look.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: One-On-One With President Obama; On Race, Resilience & Finding Hope Again]
MICHAEL STRAHAN: President Obama, happy Juneteenth.
BARACK OBAMA: It is good to see you. Happy Juneteenth to you.
STRAHAN: Thank you. I remember being in school and they had all the presidents. And they had every president up there, you would look at that list and you would say, “I want to be president.” But I don’t think you could believe it.
OBAMA: Right.
STRAHAN: Now, when they look at that, your face is up there. And a lot of people will look and say it signifies, since you’ve been elected president, that we moved on from the issue of race. What do you say to that?
OBAMA: Oh, I think that’s never been the case that by virtue of my election somehow we entered into a post-racial world. It wasn’t something I believed at the time and I certainly don’t believe it now. That fact is, is that a lot of barriers still exist for a whole lot of folks.
STRAHAN: Yeah.
OBAMA: When you look at that list of presidents, we still haven’t seen a woman. And the notion that women somehow are not qualified to – you know, the fact is, at least in my household, the women are smarter, more insightful, more caring, better looking, more talented, funnier.
STRAHAN: Do we live in the same household?
OBAMA: That’s my point. So something is happening in our society that prevents them from ascending to the highest office in the land. The same is true for African-Americans, the same is true for Latinos, and the first Americans, Native Americans. The odds are stacked in ways that prevent a lot of young people from realizing their potential. And we can do something about it.
STRAHAN: In the Promised Land, you talk about hope. The country is built on hope. Pioneers, abolitionists, civil rights workers. You ran on hope.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: One-On-One With President Obama; On Helping People Get Hope Back]
OBAMA [JANUARY 3, 2008]: We are choosing hope over fear and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.
STRAHAN: We’re now in 2021, and we have the pandemic, the insurrection, racial reckoning. A lot of people feel like they’ve lost hope. How can people get that hope back?
OBAMA: You get hope back, for me at least, taking the long view and recognizing that resilience, determination, the ability to deal with setbacks and disappointments and keep going, you know, that those are qualities that can carry us forward. And no one has exhibited that more, historically in this country, than African-Americans. The March on Washington happened during my lifetime. That’s not ancient history. In big parts of the country, segregation was still operative when I was alive. What seems like stuff we now take for granted, that’s just a generation old.
STRAHAN: There’s so many people out there who the idea of the American dream, they can’t visualize – they can’t see it anymore. So what is it going to take for people to be able to realize and envision the American dream again?
OBAMA: Well, look, historically the American dream has been a reality for some and a myth for others. We’re in a community, Anacostia in Washington, D.C., that’s representative of a lot of communities around the country, where the kids who grow up here may formally be free, but structurally, because of poverty, because of schools that aren’t working, because of substandard housing, it requires so much more effort for them to live out that American dream. And so, our job is to make sure that it’s not a myth. And right now, for too many it still is.
STRAHAN: I’m Michael Strahan in Washington, D.C.
ROBACH: And our thanks to Michael for that. Juneteenth: Together We Triumph, A Soul of A Nation Special Event, premiers tonight at 9:00 Eastern on ABC.
