On Monday night’s 11th Hour, guest hosted by Symone Sanders, Sanders and MS NOW contributor Jason Johnson reminisced the good days of the Obama presidency in response to Obama’s appearance on a progressive podcast. Johnson also pushed for Democrats to be harsher and not partake in “mealy mouthed, centrist nonsense.”
In an interview with progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama referred to the Trump Administration as a “clown show” and called protestors in Minnesota “heroic.”
Johnson responded to Obama’s comments with god-like praise:
He is moisturized, unbothered, and disinterested. I mean, one of the things that I have loved about former President Barack Obama is he doesn't sweat the small stuff. He never does. He doesn't take the bait from Republicans. He doesn't take the bait from Trump. And I love how we have spent more time talking about it than he did.
Sanders, to her credit, reminded the audience that “a lot of the people that voted for Trump, they also voted for Obama twice.”
She then asked Mark McKinnon, former advisor to President George W. Bush and Senator John McCain, what he thought of Obama’s interview. He decided to reminisce on the civility of Bush and Obama:
The one-two punch of Obama and Bush, mostly subtle, but also some a little bit of an elbow jab here and there. But the message is clear from both of them that, you know, just a message of civility and decorum also makes me think of John McCain, who talked about serving a cause greater than yourself when you have a president who serves the cause, which is only himself.
Sanders tried to get McKinnon to criticize Bush for not being publicly critical of Trump, but he did not bite.
She turned to Johnson by laughing that he would definitely have thoughts on the situation, while proclaiming that the current Trump era was a “five-alarm fire”
Johnson and Sanders connected the situation to Gavin Newsom’s recent harsh rhetoric on social media and in public speeches, joking that he already has his “running shoes” on for 2028.
Johnson then called for Democrats to be harsher and less civil:
It probably will, because let's be honest, there is a revisionism, okay, about decency and narratives in this country, right? At one point, the idea of saying either you're with us or against us was considered non-civil. Let's be honest about where - how we got to where we are now.
(...)
Yeah, that's what people want. They want someone who's going to be authentic. I think we are, in a good way, we are in a say it to my face era of American politics and the politicians who are willing to say, “I like this,” “I don't like this”, “I like you”, “I don't like you."
Those are the people that are going to be successful. This mealy mouthed, centrist nonsense is how Democrats got to where they are today. And that's not going to work in 2026. And it definitely won't work in 2028.”
One might say Democrat rhetoric had gotten very uncivil and harsh already, with references to Trump as a fascist and attacks on Republicans over the years as Nazis.
If a lot of the rhetoric we see now was “centrist nonsense,” a less civil version would be worrisome.
The transcript is below. Click to expand:
MS NOW’s 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
February 16, 2026
11:25:05 PM Eastern
SYMONE SANDERS: Joining me now is Jason Johnson, a politics and journalism professor at Morgan State University. He's also an MS NOW political contributor. And Mark McKinnon, former adviser to both George W. Bush and John McCain. Thank you both for being here.
You know, Jason, it was Mrs. Michelle Obama that said, when they go low, we go high. She was recently asked about that in another podcast interview, and she reiterated that going high is a long term strategy. What did you make of these comments from former President Obama?’
JASON JOHNSON: He is moisturized, unbothered, and disinterested. I mean, one of the things that I have loved about former President Barack Obama is he doesn't sweat the small stuff. He never does. He doesn't take the bait from Republicans. He doesn't take the bait from Trump. And I love how we have spent more time talking about it than he did.
He said, look, most people don't care about this. Most people are disappointed in this and let's move to taking this country forward. And that's what I have always loved about President Barack Obama. For all the criticisms I have of him, he knows that to get caught up, whether it was John Boehner, whether it was Joe Wilson, he knows to get caught up in the bigotry and the nonsense is not what America needs to be about. It needs to be about moving forward and attacking the problems that we all face, not the people who have individual issues with us.
SANDERS: You know, that is - I think it's a really important point because, Mark, on one hand, Democrats have been talking about getting back to decency and civility for about ten years now. And I do think there's a question out there about how voters see that message. But when I heard this interview with former President Obama, I was reminded of the fact that some of these folks that a lot of people that voted for Trump, they also voted for Obama twice. You know, he understands that there's levels and nuance here. What did you think?
MARK MCKINNON: Well, I think I missed that guy, when I see that. And, you know, coincidentally, also my former boss, George W. Bush, just came out with an essay on President's Day about the humility of our first president, George Washington, and all the other characteristics of the first president.
The one-two punch of Obama and Bush, mostly subtle, but also some a little bit of an elbow jab here and there. But the message is clear from both of them that, you know, just a message of civility and decorum. Also makes me think of John McCain, who talked about serving a cause greater than yourself when you have a president who serves the cause, which is only himself.
So listen, I think it serves to remind us about what leadership really looks like in the classic sense. Not in the sense that Trump is trying to redefine it. And it makes us, a lot of us, ache for it.
SANDERS: Mark, do you think we need to hear more from former President Bush? I mean, President Obama, this is the first time he spoke out about those comments about the video. But we have heard a lot from him in very clear terms. And I read former President Bush's Substack article. I thought it was very good, but it wasn't as pointed. What do you think?
MCKINNON: I think people get the message. I think they know exactly how he feels. From the very first day when he was at Trump's speech, he has chosen to stay under the radar, purposefully. And I think he's done it in a very classy way. And I think he's - people may have questions about how, you know, his term as president, but I think he's been an excellent ex-president. And I think a lot of people agree with that.
SANDERS: Jason - I know Jason probably - Jason might have thoughts, but I think that the point here for me in asking about President Bush is that there - this is, some people would argue, a five alarm fire. And this is also an election year for a midterm. But also we're looking to a presidential in 2028. And President Obama has presented one way of how to counteract and deal with the moment that we currently find ourselves in. And you've got other folks like Gavin Newsom, right? Who I mean, I think it's very clear he is thinking about running for president. Like many Democrats out there.
JOHNSON: Thinking? He’s got the running shoes on.
SANDERS: Well child, he laced them up. I don’t know if he's taking off on the block yet, but we'll wait to see. But he has taken a different tact. He's given what Trump has giving. He's taking a trolling him online. How do you think the two - I mean the two messages are obviously very different. And I think some people like the punch that Gavin Newsom is giving. But is that going to win him any votes down the line?
JOHNSON: It probably will, because let's be honest, there is a revisionism, okay, about decency and narratives in this country, right? At one point, the idea of saying either you're with us or against us was considered non-civil. Let's be honest about where - how we got to where we are now.
Now we have a president that does A.I. videos of dumping feces on protesters, right? So at this point, the narrative has gotten - the discourse has gotten so coarse that someone like Gavin Newsom, who makes fun of the president, somebody like AOC, who makes fun of the president, somebody like Zohran Mamdani, who goes to the president's White House and has Trump himself saying, all right, you can tell him I'm a fascist.
SANDERS: He’s like, I like him. We’re good.
JOHNSON: Yeah, that's what people want. They want someone who's going to be authentic. I think we are, in a good way, we are in a 'say it to my face' era of American politics and the politicians who are willing to say, “I like this,” “I don't like this”, “I like you”, “I don't like you”.
Those are the people that are going to be successful. This mealy mouthed, centrist nonsense is how Democrats got to where they are today. And that's not going to work in 2026. And it definitely won't work in 2028.
SANDERS: Well.
(...)
