'Best president of my lifetime': Mike Nellis defends Obama's legacy against renewed attacks

Democratic strategist Mike Nellis came out swinging in defense of Barack and Michelle Obama, calling the former president the "best" of his lifetime. "He wasn't perfect, but it's not even close. All these attacks against him from Trump and MAGA are pathetic. They're jealous Trump will never leave a fraction of the lasting legacy Barack and Michelle created," he wrote on X. His remarks follow a sustained wave of attacks on Barack and Michelle Obama from President Donald Trump and his MAGA base in recent days.

The attacks have spanned policy and personal lines, targeting everything from Obama's Iran nuclear deal to his race. Trump has publicly criticized the now-cancelled agreement, accusing Obama of handing Iran billions in cash. The 80-year-old's latest attack came on June 17, claiming that Iranians "laughed" at him and said that he was a "stupid son of a b*tch."

Obama has faced racist attacks throughout his public life as the first African American president, but the incidents have continued well beyond his tenure. In February this year, Trump shared a clip set to the song 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' depicting him and Michelle Obama as apes, imagery the BBC noted recalled a long history of racist caricatures comparing Black people to monkeys.

The 64-year-old appeared to address the video on a podcast, lamenting that the "shame" and "decorum" that once guided public officials had been lost, and that the country's political discourse had come to resemble a "clown show," Al Jazeera reported. The White House initially remained defiant, characterizing the backlash as "fake outrage," before attributing it to a staff member and deleting it. Trump, for his part, refused to apologize for the clip.

Nellis, who previously served as a senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, attributed the attacks to jealousy over Obama's enduring popularity, a claim that finds some support in a recent CNN poll naming him the most popular living president. The survey showed 57% of Americans viewed Obama favourably, well ahead of Trump at 34% and former President Joe Biden at 30%.

Former first lady Michelle Obama was also targeted recently after mixed martial arts fighter Josh Hokit called her a man at the Ultimate Fighting Championship Freedom 250 event held at the White House. She did not address these comments during her speech at the opening of the Obama Presidential Center on Thursday, but conceded that Americans were living in "anxious and divisive" times; "...deep down in our hearts and souls, we all know right from wrong, we know selflessness from greed, righteousness from injustice," she had said.