Obama Intervenes in Other Nations’ Business, Again

Former President Barack Obama is once again back in the public eye — and once again interfering with other nation’s sovereign, democratic decisions.

Obama released a video on Thursday endorsing Emmanuel Macron, the center-left candidate in the French election supported by establishment globalist and corporate interests.

“Because of how important this election is, I also want you to know I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward.”

“I’m not planning to get involved in many elections now that I don’t have to run for office, but the French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about,” Obama says in the video.

“I know that you face many challenges, and I want all of my friends in France to know how much I am rooting for your success,” Obama says in the video. “Because of how important this election is, I also want you to know I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward,” said Obama.

But Obama didn’t just endorse Macron. He even took a dig at his opponent, the right-wing populist candidate Marine Le Pen.

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“[Macron] appeals to people’s hopes, not their fears,” he said, a subtle reference to Le Pen’s anti-immigration, anti-EU rhetoric.

This is actually the second time Obama has interfered in the current French election, though certainly the most direct. In April, he called Macron on the phone in order to provide the candidate with the appearance of support — without outright endorsing him.

Indeed, despite spending his final few months railing against alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election (after having railed against Russian interference in the Ukraine a few years before), Obama himself has a penchant for interfering in other nations’ elections and internal politics.

In April 2016, Obama was denounced by then-UKIP leader Nigel Farage for his “monstrous interference” in the British referendum on EU membership. Obama was vocal in his support for Britain’s EU membership and threatened Britons that if they voted to leave, their country would be “in the back of the queue” when it came to making trade deals with the U.S.

Of course, Obama is an equal-opportunity interferer and does not just confine himself to the countries on either side of the English Channel. In December 2016 it was revealed that Obama’s State Department gave nearly $350,000 in taxpayer-funded grants to a left-wing political group in Israel, which used it to campaign against Benjamin Netanyahu in the 2015 election for prime minister.

The interference in Israel’s domestic affairs was uncovered by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The money was used by an activist group called One Voice to build a voter database, train activists, and hire political consultants with the approval of the Obama administration.

In March 2016, over 100 MPs from the U.K. Parliament sent a letter the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., Matthew Barzun, begging him to ask Obama not to interfere in the Brexit referendum.

“It has long been the established practice not to interfere in the domestic political affairs of our allies, and we hope that this will continue to be the case,” the letter read.

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“While the current U.S. administration may have a view on the desirability or otherwise of Britain’s continued membership of the E.U., any explicit intervention in the debate is likely to be extremely controversial and potentially damaging,” it continued.

In the end, the British people voted for Brexit., and many observers suggested that Obama’s interference may have motivated some of those who voted to leave.