Barack Obama has described how relentless personal attacks during his presidency, such as the “birther” conspiracy spread by Donald Trump, made him wonder if he could still “connect” with voters. In an extract from his new memoir, the former US president recalled the impact of the populist Tea Party movement on the country and revealed he resisted calls from his supporters to define the attacks as racist. The “birther” conspiracy was a claim that Mr Obama was a Muslim who was born in Kenya, and therefore constitutionally ineligible to serve as president. Mr Obama, who has made clear he is a Christian, was born in Hawaii. In the extract, published on Monday by the New Yorker, Mr Obama writes: “As a matter of principle, I didn’t believe a president should ever publicly whine about criticism from voters – it’s what you signed up for in taking the job – and I was quick to remind both reporters and friends that my white predecessors had all endured their share of vicious personal attacks and obstructionism.”
Source: yahoo.com/news
