Obama divides fans by telling people to stop saying ‘defund the police’

Obama sparked a backlash by telling activists not to use the slogan “defund the police”.

In a Snapchat interview with Peter Hamby, he said:

“If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it's not biased and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘defund the police’, but, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you're actually going to get the changes you want done.

But if you instead say, ‘let's reform the police department so that everybody's being treated fairly, you know, divert young people from getting into crime, and if there was a homeless guy, can maybe we send a mental health worker there instead of an armed unit that could end up resulting in a tragedy?'. Suddenly, a whole bunch of folks who might not otherwise listen to you are listening to you."

While Obama supported Black Lives Matter protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, he has previously said he wouldn’t defund police departments. 

His statement proved controversial.

Some people accused Obama of failing to understand what ‘defund the police’ actually means. 

Not everything is just a “snappy slogan”.