Former US President Barack Obama has just denounced “strongman politics”. But in their rush to agree, mainstream media outlets have glossed over Obama’s own questionable political record.
“Strongman politics are ascendant”
Obama made headlines on 17 July for a speech in South Africa commemorating the 100th year of Nelson Mandela’s birth. But it wasn’t his tribute to the former South African premier and anti-apartheid activist that received the most attention. Rather, it was his thinly veiled attack on President Donald Trump’s performance at the already infamous summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the week.