Obama is the New Nixon
By John Kass
Sunday August 17, 2025
Barack Obama is the new Nixon. There, I wrote it down and my name is on it. It’s not publicly approved speech yet, but it is no longer the Thought Crime it once was. Many Americans are thinking it. And some, like me, are saying out loud.
Barack Obama is our modern Nixon figure. Worse than Nixon, actually.
Nixon was considered devious. He was presented as demon by The Washington Post and most of the rest of American journalism as the devil who had to be crushed, his followers subjected to never ending ridicule, his political party was sent on a Walk of Shame. Facing certain impeachment conviction–the result of a botched burglary–Nixon resigned in 1974 rather than put the nation through more political hell.
And what of Obama, the creature and darling of the political left and the beloved of the Post, New York Times, my old paper the now-woke Chicago Tribune, what remains of corporate legacy media?
It was Obama who orchestrated the FBI and CIA to create what is now understood as the “Russia Collusion Hoax” and used it in attempts to destroy his political rival President Donald Trump. He set them like attack dogs on the American presidency, to rip it apart after the American people had elected Trump as their president. Once Obama’s cabal of Deep State secret intelligence chiefs were exposed, their methods opened to public scrutiny, the public began asking questions. The fall from grace is impossible for a political immortal.
And for that he can’t be forgiven.
According to Rasmussen Reports:
“In the wake of revelations about the so-called “RussiaGate” scandal, more than two-thirds of voters agree with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that there must be “accountability” for any crimes committed.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 54% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it’s likely that members of President Barack Obama’s national security team committed crimes when they manipulated and manufactured intelligence to promote a false narrative about Russia and Donald Trump, including 37% who consider it Very Likely. Forty-one percent (41%) don’t think it’s likely crimes were committed by Obama administration officials, including 28% who say it’s Not At All Likely.”
For Obama, once publicly adored as something of a demi-god, the fact that 66.6 percent of American voters agree with DNI Gabbard is devastating. The worm has turned.
I tried out my theory on the great NY Post columnist and best-selling author Miranda Devine. She will appear soon as a guest on the Chicago Way podcast that I co-host with WGN radio executive producer Jeff Carlin and send free as a bonus to subscribers of johnkassnews.com
We started talking about Obama, particularly Obama’s desperate desire for relevance and change of subject which is why Obama’s posse are pushing his recently hyped call New York Socialist mayor-to-be, Zoran Mamdani.
“Barack Obama is finding relevance right now, probably not the relevance he’d planned, because he’s now fingered as the ringleader as Donald Trump now calls him, of the whole Russiagate Russia Collusion hoax (I’m linking to a recent column of hers on ‘Bumbling Obama Aides Actually Admit Russiagate was a smear campaign against Trump).
“It’s very fitting that Mamdani would try to set himself up as some sort of national figure by being ‘mentored’ by Barack Obama and setting himself against Donald Trump because he’s of course “too important” to battle against the likes of Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams,” Devine told us.
Originally I had planned to write a different column about Obama, a light piece with the former president on the psychiatric couch being psychoanalyzed, worrying about the crease in his trousers, complaining about the conservative media, about his wife’s podcast, complaining about disloyal Democrats and the Federal Grand Jury examining his actions and those of his Deep State intelligence dogs and so on.
Who knows? I might return to it.
But I was trained as a newspaperman. And Miranda Devine is a hard news person, though she liked the idea of Obama on my comfy couch.
The thing about Obama is that his legacy is broken. Certainly, as an intelligent man, he must know this. The left can sense it. America can sense the panic.
His aides are under fire, and years after he was treated by the media as if he were some mythical flying horse like Pegasus, creature, a majority of the American people believe that Obama’s Deep State has committed crimes in what we call “RussiaGate.”
The worm is turning.
”I totally agree,” Devine said, “and if you go on X they’re talking about Obama in quite negative terms.”
Of course they are, it’s angry and hateful, but consider: After Obama and his Democrats and media fed the American people a steady diet of hysteria about the hateful bad Orange Man destroying the American republic, you might understand why. The left has been stirring a boiling cauldron and now it’s foaming up and over, spilling on the wrist of the witches. Obama used the FBI and CIA to destroy the presidency, but some people developed an affection for the presidency.
They thought of it not belonging to Obama or Hillary Clinton or the editors of newspapers who despise them.
They thought the presidency belonged to them, the people.
And when they found out the true attitudes of the Obama-Clinton-Biden Democrats, they became angry.
There is no putting the genie back in the bottle. Not even a grand wizard like Obama can do it. Each day the people get angrier.
Obama is desperate for relevance and a change of subject, which is why he called New York Socialist mayor-to-be, Zoran Mamdani. But does Obama help Mamdani?
Oh perhaps, but I’ve known the silky liar Obama for years since the American terrorist William Ayers hatched him in Chicago’s Hyde Park. I was a copy boy for his word spinner David Axelrod, and I covered Mayor Rahm Emanuel at Chicago’s City Hall, even after Rahm desperately tried to cover up and suppress the police killing of a black teenager.
Obama, like Richard M. Daley is his own favorite topic. Obama abandoned Chicago. He ignored the plight of black Chicago. Like all narcissists, Obama is a political one-way street. He cares only for himself.
He weaponized the FBI and the CIA and used the Internal Revenue Service to hunt and destroy conservatives who dared oppose him.
Former President Barack Obama’s newly revealed call with mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is a nod that could help make the socialist more palatable to panicking high-level Democrats
He doesn’t mind being linked to Mamdani. All that is a distraction from what he’s done to the country. He wants to step away from what he’s done.
He doesn’t want to be linked to another president:
Richard M. Nixon.
But Nixon is his legacy now, and he knows it.
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About John Kass…
About the author: John Kass spent decades as a political writer and news columnist in Chicago working at a major metropolitan newspaper. He is co-host of The Chicago Way podcast. And he just loves his “No Chumbolone” hat, because johnkassnews.com is a “No Chumbolone” Zone where you can always get a cup of common sense.
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Comments 31
Wow! I remember being asked by a very liberal pal during the 2008 primaries if I would choose BO or HC if I were to vote in the Dem primary. I said if forced I’d choose HC, the devil I knew. “Ah, you couldn’t support a black President,” he said. I explained that race was irrrelevant… and that having grown up in Chicago, I’d do anything in my power to keep that kind of morally bankrupt corruption out of the White House.
It is good to see the worm turning!
“Obama, like Richard M. Daley is his own favorite topic. Obama abandoned Chicago. He ignored the plight of black Chicago. Like all narcissists, Obama is a political one-way street. He cares only for himself.”
One has a better tailor.
He was a communist and was pushing our country toward a one party rule and did not want Trump to slow the fundamental change ….and…Like all narcissist, he was protecting his sacred legacy.
John watch your back. They will stop at nothing to destroy this Country. Most of us knew what he did, we told people about it and people would not believe that this charming man was part of the Devil. As Scripture says the Devil is Charming. Only Christ can set the mess the World is in straight. He never did anything for Chicago or his people he does not live here and look at the mess Chicago is in. Incredible how the Voters do not understand what is happening. Oh well. Keep writing and always tell the truth. The World is all about money and corporations only look for big bucks not the poor.
“… Obama and his Democrats and media fed the American people a steady diet of hysteria about the hateful bad Orange Man destroying the American republic” is the line that the Dems could never see nor will ever admit to. Even now with the proof coming out, they’ll just poo-poo it and sweep it away. TDS is a very real thing. Just have a conversation with any lib on about any topic and at some point they WILL SAY “But Trump.” We were given a heaping plate on every newscast and in every paper for years that DJT was a Russian stooge. And it all started when Obama wouldn’t release the intel that there was no proof, and instead had his FBI, CIA, and NSA push forward the opposite agenda.
Well written, John, as always.
Obama is watching the fruits of his labor to “fundamentally change America “!
As a 1972 McGovern for President volunteer in Springfield,I know about lost causes and this is never to be a socialist country.I get it. The NYC Mayor to be will have bigly trouble not only as a target of his City Council and Fox News but the guy in the White House who I could never trust or vote for.No,I mean Trump. John is way off on Obama. He never was a saint but he is not the villain the Trump machine and Fox News and a not so fair Miranda Devine would smear him if conveniant. And for John to ignore Obama’s Promise Keepers ongoing effort in Chicago to enlighten young minds is sad. You folks who luv John can say whatever you want about Trump but he is selling out Ukraine to Putin in hope of a Nobel Peace Prize because Obama got one. And yes,Obama did not deserve it. But Obama did not launch Russiagate or the group of liars and spies. That was a combination of Hillary Clinton aides and DNC ones.Ask Penny Pritzker who probably helped fund it. And to equate Obama with Nixon is also bad wrong. Nixon went after a truth teller in Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers leak via the Rand review of Vietnam. Obama got Osama Bin Laden DEAD. And if some of you are not liking Obama for being very wealthy just not Oprah or Pritzker wealthy,tough toenails.Trump has been enriching himself for a long time and his family with all kinds of silly schemes like Casino branding and now bitcoin crypto currencies. But go ahead with the attempt to smear Obama and his legacy Library that probably should not be where it is. He got healthcare reform which was needed and still needs a lot of work. And Warren Buffet is not helping by buying up shares of United Healthcare in his old age. But wealthy people usually try to get wealthier. Trump should have stuck to building towers and stiffing contractors on contract payments. It kind of worked out for him,too,not that John and Miranda notice…..
Mark, I would like you to prove that DJT stiffed contractors. Who, where, and when? Put your money where your mouth is! BTW barry got an NPP for doing nothing other than having tanned skin.
Obama’s conduct — even if not criminal — was worse than that of Nixon’s men: Obama, using the machinery of government, tried to unseat the lawfully elected president. Nixon’s people were trying to destroy the chances that the Democratic candidate in 1972 would beat Nixon in the November election. That’s at least one standard ignoble deviation from Obama’s subversive efforts to dislodge Trump from office.
Nixon used CIA and FBI to defeat Dems in 1972. Re read your history. Both ex presidents were/are corrupt as hell.
Unless Obama, Hiliary and Russiagate crowd get indicted it will all be forgotten.
And there have not been any indictments! Wheres Bondi? And there won’t be. Both sides are political whores in it for themselves. Subscribers here are shocked at what Dem pols do. Reminds me of police chief Capt Renault in Casablanca: this place must be closed. I’m shocked, shocked there’s gambling going on here………. Your winnings sir. Oh thank you very much.
And what about Epsteingate. No word anymore. A guy runs a a sex ring of under age girls in which leaders in politics, Trump, Clinton, other leaders of world, elite billionaires like Musk, multiple politicians on both sides, multiple bank CEOs, lawyers like Derschwitz ARE ON VIDEO BANGING THESE TAKEN ADVANTAGED OF GIRLS FROM BROKEN HOMES and nothings done. NOTHING!
Read Whitney Webb: One Nation Under Blackmail and Nick Bryant: The Franklin Scandal. We have a national under age sex ring in this country run by our own govt. And you dear readers are worried about Russiagate. Remember the quote: politics ain’t beanbag? Politics is dirty. I know your shocked that it is. Most of the readers are living thru their 1
1950s grade school glasses. Things are much worse now
Well said, N.I. Silver.
If you read The Conservative Treehouse blog, the releases by Tulsi Gabbard aren’t endorsed by Kash Patel or Bondi. The purpose is NOT to put people in prison, but to reset the US-Russia relationship and stop the endless wars. The Intelligence Community in DC is the linchpin of the Deep State. It must be reformed.
And don’t forget the migrant invasion , 12 million , or more , flooding the Republic . Obama’s idea was to load the census with the migrants and keep/ turn the House Democrat . It was the Biden admin , but it was Obama’s plan . You cannot hate Obama enough, but I try .
While flooding the US with illegals, joey was napping on the beach. As always, doing nothing.
Thanks for making the legacy link John! Yes, Hillary and her crew started the mess, but Obama made the call to enable the Deep State weaponization against Trump. That whole crew of his in the Intelligence and Justice Department was corrupt, seeking to preserve power and disrupt Trump regardless of the long-term effects. Hillary, Obama and Biden all share in a legacy of driving the Democratic party into the ground, enabled by Schumer and Pelosi. Trump is a political survivor of what will become a much bigger historical debacle than Watergate by far. The Russian Collusion Hoax, the Biden computer fiasco and the Pelosi/Schiff impeachment are all parts of a long-term undermining of the foundations of the American Republic by Democrats whose concept of the “democracy” they said Trump was/is destroying is completely about their own power and control. Their legacy will be the damage done to the Republic’s foundations, there for all now and in the future to see, if they’re willing to look! Thank Tulsi for the gift of the truth, which is core to freedom and liberty!
Please John, don’t compare him to one of my favorite Presidents.
I like this column it sure makes me think on a different angle. Interesting comparison to be sure….but I have a hard time linking Barak to Tricky Dick on the same level. I still believe that Barak is waaaaaaay more evil than Nixon. Hands down.
Sorry I hit print b 4 I wanted to. One more suggestion: Google Glenn Beck interviews Whitney Webb on you tube.
Small comfort, but if you think about it, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton both now suffer similar deserved (though not adequate) punishment, after each of their presidencies made us endure eight years of hectoring lies and fake accomplishment. One of those punishments has her own podcast now and the other one has never shut up.
I was smoked by Obama. I was a hopeless Evanstonian hopium addict. I remember reading Kass back then and thinking “man this guy just sees right through people, and you can tell he’s right”
Obama did some good. He made sure he did the minimum. Like Orestes Brownson said of the New Englander “the New Englander is generous, but his generosity only extends so far as it allows him to meddle in the affairs of others”
Hoping that the others candidates in New York City drop out and let Curtis Sliwa mop the floor with Mandani, Elizabeth Warren and Obama.
But hey, Mandani can find work as a dancer for high end Democrat Bachelorette parties. Or beg Harvard to let him teach. He can join their burgeoning faculty of former politicians teaching kids how to fail up
Yianni,
Spot on analysis once again! It must be tough to become irrelavent in such a short time, but Barry did it. He bailed out of Martha’s Vineyard, maybe because he sensed a storm coming. I’m betting Chicago will be left with the tab for his Jackson Park temple in the sky, as his “donors” desert him, one by one. He was a charlatan when he was the absent Illinois senator, or president, and he still is, trying to pursuade his hopium drinkers that he loves this country, which he actually and openly detests! Putting lipstick on a pig, doesn’t make it any prettier, and no matter how the leftist media tries to paint him at this point, Obama is over – he just doesn’t realize yet, but I’ll bet Michelle does – not that she’s any better!
Obama, the great divider in chief, was the beginning of the destruction of the United States.
Congrats on your excellent column. I’m sure I’ll hear later today Real Clear Politics has chosen this column. Why wouldn’t they?
We teach our children to tell the truth. We end friendships of toxic liars.
Yet here we are. Many have known to some extent how bad things were. How they went after Trump and threw whatever they could and try and make it stick. By the way it was over kill.
For me as my grandparents had escaped occupied Poland, to hear someone refer to Trump as a Nazi, and his voters as such is so apprehensive there are no words. I shake my head at the ignorance.
Thanks.
Now John, I think you toss villainy around too lightly. Nixon was trying to get the country out of a war he didn’t start. Inflation was turning into a monster. America had a burgeoning domestic terror crises going on with the Weathermen, SDS, FALN and other groups of lunatics bombing and shooting up this country. A maniac even bombed the South Chicago Goldblatts. Obama had none of these activities going on. Obama chose to commit his actions simply out of a desire to maintain his politics and the direction he was steering our country. Obama unleashed the deep state not only on Trump, but on the American people. People were imprisoned for demonstrating outside of abortion clinics. Standing up for the rights of their kids at school meetings. Given prison time for rioting in Washington when they were in fact led on by government agents. Nixon may have committed impeachable offenses but he NEVER committed acts against the American people like Obama did.
I think Obama’s revelation about his call to Mamdani is only a show to convince himself and the public that he is also a “Zebra” like Mamdani although the latter is after his fair Indian Mother!, besides leaving an impression that he is ‘mentoring’ the new guy!!
BTW, what a day reading 1st thing on a Sunday Morning about this Obama Creature? And what kind of penance one should go thru to pass this day?!
The Watergate break in was illegal. The coverup of Watergate was wrong. Nixon was forced to take responsibility and he resigned. I understand that some people will excuse the weaponization of the CIA, FBI, and the rest against the incoming Trump administration, but the majority will not. This is much worse than Watergate. It is fair to ask, John, aren’t you being a little hard on Nixon for making this comparison?
I always wondered if Barry Hussein Otero ever found new “bent” bath houses to frequent when he left Chicago. Though it was unconfirmed rumors at the time, we at the middle levels of Chicago society were always in on the skinny of the goings and comings of Chicago power brokers in politics and the media and guard their sick secrets. Ask former news reporter Walter of his drunken driving escapades where medical reports were changed to mask the truth, so I have to believe the baythhouse stories……just sayin.’
Obama is far, far worse than Nixon ever was. Nixon, for all his many faults, wasn’t a narcissist, and did love America and the idea of America. Nixon was a personally insecure man, who loved power and pursued it ruthlessly and with disregard for the rules, but he didn’t actively seek to undermine America, diminish its standing in the world, or “fundamentally transform” it into some weird, Islamosocialist utopia. And when he left, he really left, and didn’t lurk in the shadows still trying to damage our country.
President Ford preemptively pardoned Nixon, and as satisfying as it would be to see Obama in an orange jumpsuit marched off to federal prison, we shouldn’t do that either, not because he doesn’t deserve it but to restore some dignity to the office of the presidency. But hopefully by the time Ed Martin finishes unraveling all the criminal referrals he has received, Obama will stand exposed, disgraced and repudiated, which will have to be punishment enough for a malignant narcissist.
Thanks for another great column, John. I recall Clint Eastwood and the empty chair at the 2012 RNC convention, when he said “President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. ” So true, but our uber liberal Trump-hating friends have their MSNBC blinders on. It’s useless to try to sway these people. They eagerly await each day to read their high priestess of disinformation “Historian” Heather Cox Richardson. I hope the legacy media will realize they have to cover the story of Obama’s treachery. Maybe they will eventually connect the dots.
Can’t turn on the TV without being bombarded with drug company ads with a pill to cure every ill. Barry’s first run was seen by way too many as a cure for white guilt. Filling in the black dot on the ballot had the feeling like walking out of the confessional guilt free.
My favorite bumper sticker when he ran the second time was “You’ve Proved You’re Not Racist – Now prove You’re Not Stupid.”
None of those absolved whites want that guilt back. Barry will survive this.