Obama Admits Critical ‘Mistake’ Made By Enlightened Lefties

Former President Barack Obama sat down with his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, to gab about really boring stuff on her podcast. Such as, ahem, “Male Friendships and Emotional Sharing,” as reads one of the chapter titles for the YouTube episode. 

But when the conversation turned to raising boys, Barack meandered into a critique of his side of the aisle. 

“I will say, as quote-unquote, progressives, Democrats, progressive parents, enlightened ones, we’ve made that mistake sometimes in terms of our rhetoric. Where it’s like we’re constantly talking about … what’s wrong with the boys, instead of what’s right with them.” (RELATED: Everybody Clap — Michelle Obama Managed To Spend An Hour With Her Husband)

Barack referenced his concerns as a father. 

I used to think Michelle Obama was a major future political threat that Dems could leverage.

Then she started talking. https://t.co/vJdJDMIWXm

— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) July 10, 2025

“For those of us with daughters, we’ve got to have good guys out there,” he began. “Not necessarily to get married, but … when we don’t think about boys, and just assume they’re going to be okay because they’ve been running the world, you know, they’ve got all the advantages relative to the girls, and all of which has historically been true in all kinds of ways. But precisely because of that, if you’re not thinking about what’s happening to boys, and how are they being raised, then that can actually hurt women.”

Ah. So the ultimate end of helping boys is helping girls. Barack’s comments are cut from the same rhetorical cloth as certain detractors of affirmative action: “Doling out college admissions advantages on the basis of race is bad. Other kids will assume non-white and non-Asian students are less capable.”

But consider this. If there are no good men left, who will pay for the Obama girls’ dinners?

“We joke that, talking to Malia [Obama] and Sasha [Obama], sometimes they go out with their friends, and you know, they’re in a group and the guy’s got crocodile arms,” Obama said, gesturing with his arm. “Not picking up the check … You don’t have to pick it up all the time, but if you’re never picking it up, that’s a problem. If you’re never opening a door, or pulling out a chair, because that’s just common courtesy.” 

Such subtle chivalry was common courtesy at some point in recent memory. Say, when Barack himself was born. But progress demands progress. “Safe, legal, and rare” rapidly became “empowering, on-demand, and always to be applauded.” 

Retweet if you’re a proud supporter of marriage equality. #LoveIsLove pic.twitter.com/4nrRggtujD

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 6, 2014

Opening the door for a woman may seem a simple expectation. But it builds on the premise that men and women are different. That they should behave differently. That men have a particular obligation to women, which, crucially, is reciprocated via a host of obligations exclusive to women. Manners of this sort are a social technology which negotiates sex differences. (RELATED: There’s Another Gender Gap Nobody Is Talking About – And It Just Might Doom Democrats)

Barack himself doesn’t appear to place much stock in those differences. He crowed about the U.S. Supreme Court decision to affirm the constitutionality of same-sex marriages in Obergefell v. Hodges as a “victory for America.” It “made our union a little more perfect.”

Revolutions always were prone to exacting measured revenge on their own vanguards. Though Malia and Sasha will probably figure out a way to pay for their own brunches, one imagines.

Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC