Bobby Jindal Blames President Obama For Donald Trump’s Rise

Republican presidential candidate Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks during the Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council Action, Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

According to former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), President Obama is to blame for Donald Trump’s dominance in the Republican presidential primary.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal published on Thursday, Jindal wrote that “the president truly doesn’t get enough credit for creating one of the most polarizing forces in American politics today.”

“No, not Hillary—that is more Bill’s doing. Let’s be honest: There would be no Donald Trump, dominating the political scene today if it were not for President Obama,” Jindal wrote.

The former Louisiana governor said that voters are simply reacting to “the perceived deficiencies of the incumbent.”

“After seven years of the cool, weak and endlessly nuanced ‘no drama Obama,’ voters are looking for a strong leader who speaks in short, declarative sentences,” Jindal wrote. “Middle-class incomes are stagnant, and radical Islam is on the march across the Middle East. No wonder voters are responding to someone who promises to make America great again. You can draw a straight line between a president who dismisses domestic terrorist attacks as incidents of workplace violence and a candidate who wants to ban Muslims from entering the country.”

Although Jindal railed against Obama for creating the partisan “rancor he now rails against,” the former governor did not exactly offer a defense of Trump.

“President Obama loves to construct straw men so he can contrast his heroic self against them. But Donald Trump needs no characterization; he is capable of being absurd on his own, no outside help required,” he wrote. “Without President Obama, there is no Donald Trump. Mr. Trump often diagnoses the ills Mr. Obama has caused, but his prescriptions are just as often wrong. America deserves better.”

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for jeffs jeffs says:

    The party of personal responsibility speaks.

  2. Of course! It has to be the fault of a black person that the Republican Party is now being represented by a racist. That’s a very republican position to take.

  3. Avatar for dnl dnl says:

    BJ ejaculates.

  4. Avatar for pine pine says:

    “Bobby Jindal” Who ?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

246 more replies

Participants

Avatar for subatomicparticiple Avatar for fgs Avatar for overreach_this Avatar for afblac Avatar for feathered_head Avatar for chammy Avatar for commiedearest Avatar for trnc Avatar for bradbennett Avatar for inversion Avatar for mantan Avatar for sickneffintired Avatar for borisjimbo Avatar for arc_of_the_universe Avatar for magical_panda Avatar for guero80241 Avatar for mrf Avatar for bigdaddydrj Avatar for darrtown Avatar for tena Avatar for klw57 Avatar for firewing2 Avatar for mkclpi Avatar for Vijay47

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: