Gavin Newsom hails Obama speeches, says America has 'unworthy' leaders in power

Commenting on the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that Americans had been missing a sense of pride in the country and the government due to divisiveness perpetrated by the Trump administration. Newsom added that there were people in power who were unworthy of the position they held. 

"Everybody feels that spirit and that pride that we have been missing," he told a reporter. "We did not realize how much we have been missing, and we have been missing it because of the divisiveness, we have been missing it because we have people who frankly are unworthy of their positions. And there we saw on stage, people who were worthy of what our founding fathers lived and died for."

The Obamas spoke about several issues at the event in Chicago, with former presidents such as Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, among others, on stage. Barack Obama spoke about democratic government institutions, stating that no one was above the law and no one was beneath the protection that the law provides. He also called for checks on administrative power.

Michelle Obama commended her husband for discharging his duties as the President of the United States, stating that he never "melted" from the "heat" of the job. Newsom was not the only one who found the Obamas' speeches rousing. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was among the people in the audience, and he, too, was full of praise for the former president and first lady. 

"I am reminded that there once was a time, during most of my life, when we had presidents who exhibited character and honesty and integrity and kindness and empathy. Those are all things that I am sure all of us long for once again, and we were reminded that we can have that. We don't have it now, but there is an awful lot of work for us ahead to do, and I think that is what we were being called to remember and also called to do," Pritzker told MS Now.

Not everyone, however, was as appreciative of the former president. Republican politician Vivek Ramaswamy believes that it was the Obama administration that sowed the seeds of divisiveness in the country. "He (Obama) disappointed us and ultimately governed in a way that divided us, caused us to see one another as if we were oppressed or not. The mentality that rejects American entrepreneurialism rejects the idea of self-reliance, creativity, and originality that built this country. And I'm hoping we are able to turn the page on this chapter of victimhood," he told Fox News.