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Commentary By Jason L. Riley

A Critique of Identity Politics—From Obama

Culture, Culture Race, Culture & Society

If Democrats want to win back Congress and the White House, they’ll listen to the former president.

For better or worse, Donald Trump is becoming a far more transformative president than many of his critics like to acknowledge. Democrats become foreign-policy hawks when the topic turns to Russia. And they morph into states’ rights activists when they want to shield illegal immigrants from deportation.

Meanwhile, conservative Never Trumpers who have spent entire careers advocating for deregulation, lower taxes, judicial restraint and colorblind public policies have abandoned those principles to make common cause with liberals and their media allies. These days, even Mr. Trump’s immediate predecessor, Barack Obama, doesn’t quite sound like his old self.

Mr. Obama traveled to Johannesburg last week to give a speech marking the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, and the choicest passages sounded like gentle digs at his fellow leftists back home. Mr. Obama didn’t mention the current president by name, but he did weigh in on some current controversies, including immigration.

Continue reading the entire piece at The Wall Street Journal

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Jason L. Riley is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and a Fox News commentator. Follow him on Twitter here.

This piece originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal