Obama Claims Government Less Corrupt Than Ever as Democrats Push Anti-Corruption Message
Former President Obama argues federal corruption has declined, while Democrats highlight rising public concerns in upcoming elections.
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Former President Barack Obama asserted Thursday that the federal government is less corrupt than at any point in its history, citing a sharp decline in bribes, patronage, and favor-trading. The claim came during the third episode of A Great Book with Barack Obama, a six-episode series on Amazon’s Audible, where Obama discussed Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 novel All the King’s Men with historian Jill Lepore.
Obama noted that many people are surprised by the assertion, stating, “People are always surprised when I tell them the federal government is so much less corrupt than probably it’s ever been, in terms of just pure bribes or patronage or favors.” He attributed the decline to reforms enacted in the wake of Watergate, which dismantled the tools once used by party bosses to secure votes through favors.
Obama described the loss of these mechanisms in mechanical terms, saying, “It’s part of the reason why things got a little harder to get done because that was sort of some lubrication … to help to bridge some of the ideological differences that were out there.”
Public sentiment, however, tells a different story. A Gallup poll released in September found that 89% of U.S. adults believe government corruption is widespread, a ten-point increase from last year. Among Democrats, the figure reached 91%, up from 57% in former President Joe Biden’s final year in office. Republicans reported 83%.
Democrat officials have been leveraging these concerns, with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker calling President Donald Trump’s administration “the most corrupt presidency that we’ve seen in our lifetimes, maybe ever in the United States.” Pritzker also suggested that Democrats could run on this issue in the 2026 midterms.
Corruption ads are now running in more than a dozen House races and in nearly every competitive Senate state, according to the Washington Sun. Republican pollster Robert Blizzard noted that frustration with politics-as-usual is at an all-time high.
Obama has been actively shaping his party’s midterm message, urging House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to prioritize artificial intelligence oversight. The podcast series is the sixth release under Higher Ground’s exclusive deal with Audible, marking Obama’s first self-hosted project.
Source: Breitbart
