Former President Barack Obama criticized various institutions, including law firms, universities, and businesses, for making deals or working out settlements with the Trump administration rather than “tak[ing] a stand.”
In an interview on the final episode of Marc Maron’s podcast, WTF With Marc Maron, Obama suggested these organizations should have “stood by their convictions” instead of bending to administration pressure. He argued that universities, for example, should have used their endowments to “ride this out” rather than compromise their “basic academic independence” for federal grant money.
Obama also referenced law firms and corporations, stating they should have resisted being “bullied” into rolling back initiatives like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, noting the importance of diversity in hiring. The former president specifically referenced policies associated with top White House aide Stephen Miller.
The news brief highlights that institutions have reached agreements with the Trump White House, including dropping DEI targets or agreeing to rein in campus antisemitism in exchange for restored federal funding. Some powerful Washington law firms also agreed to provide free legal services to the administration, and companies like Disney restructured their internal diversity programs.
Later in the interview, Obama acknowledged that standing up for convictions has a price, stating, “Sometimes it’s going to be uncomfortable.”
He also offered a critique of a “weird progressive language” that implied a “holier than thou superiority,” which he found comparable to the “moral majority” rhetoric he recalled from the right. The interview was conducted in Obama’s Washington office for the final installment of the long-running podcast.
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