Beyond the BBQ: July 4th Posts From Democratic Leaders Were Something Else
“Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.”
I get it. Democrats are reeling after the passage of President Donald Trump’s big budget bill, and they were in no mood to celebrate the Fourth of July. Still, it might have been wiser for them to stay off social media altogether rather than deflate Americans’ holiday spirits with their messages of doom and gloom.
We’ll start with a post from former President Barack Obama:
Independence Day is a reminder that America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ America is owned by no one. It belongs to all citizens. And at this moment in history—when core democratic principles seem to be continuously under attack, when too many people around the world have become cynical and disengaged—now is precisely the time to ask ourselves tough questions about how we can build our democracies and make them work in meaningful and practical ways for ordinary people.
He was okay up until he equated “We The People,” which is, of course, the foundation of any democracy, with “Yes We Can,” which is code for protest, even rebellion, in the language of community organizers. While conveniently forgetting about his administration’s egregious assaults on Americans’ constitutional rights, he was essentially saying our core democratic principles are under continuous attack, and we must decide what action to take. His message sounded like a thinly veiled call to arms.
Independence Day is a reminder that America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ America is owned by no one. It belongs to all citizens. And at this moment in…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 4, 2025
While there’s no doubt his words pleased the Democratic base, conservatives were quick to point out his incredible hypocrisy. Fox Business News host Elizabeth McDonald delivered a scorching and thorough rebuttal to the former president’s post, which began:
A “core democratic principle” Barack Obama and his Administration consistently violated was the freedom of the press and free speech, which is why George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and theFounding Fathers enshrined that as the very First Amendment, “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech,” said Benjamin Franklin.
McDonald then went on to detail the Obama administration’s long history of abusing Americans’ core democratic liberties. She cited its weaponization of the government to go after political enemies, including the Trump-Russia investigation which began under Obama, its prosecution of “more whistleblowers and leakers under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined,” its “sanctioning of the DOJ to go after reporters (the Obama DOJ secretly obtained the phone records of more than 20 Associated Press reporters),” its 2016 update to the Freedom of Information Act which allowed them to “delay or deny a record number of FOIA requests, particularly regarding sensitive topics like drone strikes or surveillance programs,” and more.
A “core democratic principle” Barack Obama and his Administration consistently violated was the freedom of the press and free speech, which is why George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and theFounding Fathers enshrined that as the very First Amendment, “Whoever… https://t.co/sYCdatrhEX
— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) July 4, 2025
Rich Baris, the “People’s Pundit,” reminded Obama, “America was not founded as a ‘democracy.’ It was founded as a ‘republic’ and the most powerful word was ‘liberty’, not ‘we.'”
We move on to congenital liar Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who, last we saw, was tearing up in his car after the Senate’s passage of the big, beautiful bill. He wrote, “Going shopping for your 4th of July cookout today? Trump’s tariffs are making it a lot more expensive. From beer, to beef, to ice cream – prices are higher than ever. The American people deserve better.”
Going shopping for your 4th of July cookout today? Trump's tariffs are making it a lot more expensive.
From beer, to beef, to ice cream – prices are higher than ever.
The American people deserve better.
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) July 4, 2025
After the previous administration’s reckless policies drove inflation to levels not seen in 40 years, and given the current administration’s success in stabilizing prices, making a disingenuous statement like this requires a remarkable amount of chutzpah.
And many X users were happy to point that out.
Hey Autopen Pardon,
Nice try in the tariffs. Here is where Americans get these items
92% of beef is raised in America
79% of beer is made in America
96% of ice cream is made in AmericaNow can you turn off your phone so we can enjoy our FREEDOM?
Thanks,
Americans
— PNW Conservative (@UnderWashington) July 4, 2025
We also learned that Randi Weingarten, president of the second-largest teachers’ union in the U.S., can’t spell. It took her three tries to get her Fourth of July message right. In the original, she called the holiday the “4rth” of July and misspelled “peeking” as “peaking.”
BREAKING: Randi Weingarten deleted the last post and still managed to get it wrong.
Peeking*
4th*She is the president of the teachers union. pic.twitter.com/WMUsixMCgy
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) July 4, 2025
We also heard from former Vice President Kamala Harris, whose message of despair underscored just how far she’s drifted from her 2024 campaign of optimism and joy. She wrote, “Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.”
How inspiring and uplifting.
This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better.
But I love our country — and when you love something, you fight for it. Together, we will continue to fight for the ideals of our nation. pic.twitter.com/pYxJVw0fiD
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 4, 2025
Conservative writer Jerry Dunleavy replied, “Never seen someone wish everyone a ‘Sad 4th!’ but here we are.”
Peter Hasson, editor of the Washington Free Beacon, responded, “This is a funeral speech not a July 4th post.”
One commentator translated Harris’s words for us:
“Things are hard right now” apparently means “People are telling me ‘Kammy, you don’t have a snowball’s chance of getting the nomination again.’”
And “I love our country” really means “I love the idea that I could be POTUS if only we had a few billion more to spend….” pic.twitter.com/FElugZ9SZt
— Tom Kattman (@TomKattman) July 5, 2025
And another pointed out the obvious:
I actually thought things were hard when she was letting millions of people come here illegally and when they were blowing out inflation
— reaction.gif 🇺🇸 (@TheReactionGif) July 4, 2025
Me too.
Journalist Steve Guest noted that Harris had cropped the Biden’s out of a photo from last Fourth of July.
Hahahahahaha. You cropped out Joe and Jill.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 4, 2025
And one New Jersey mayor sent a message with her actions. She waved a pride flag at a Fourth of July parade.
Received from a follower. Mayor Carolyn Dempsey of Chatham Borough, NJ waves a PRIDE flag during the 4th of July parade. No American flag.
Absolutely disgusting. pic.twitter.com/HzeCGXuHq3
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 4, 2025
Despite her spelling challenges, the only Democrat to show any real patriotism was Randi Weingarten. Perhaps I shouldn’t have called her out.
The others just weren’t feeling the joy.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
I wish the dramacrats nothing but loss and heartbreak. Together with our enemies they have actively worked to destroy this country in almost every way possible. Hopefully they but not the rest of us will reap the results of their handiwork.
But those politicians did not acquire such malevolent power by inheritance. They were willfully voted into those positions.
That is where the problem really lies…
“We’ll start with a post from former President Barack Obama…”
There hasn’t been a more excretable man in American life than this Indonesian-Hawaiian communist punk so you’ll have to excuse me for ignoring anything he has to say.
The one thing he did do that I will be forever grateful for is goading DJT into running for president. If you’ve never seen the video of Obama insulting Trump you can see the very moment that he decides to run.
Other than that…
Interesting to note that Barry used the word “we”. I was unaware that was in his vocabulary, as he always uses the self-centered “I” when giving his usual condescending admonishments to us flyover types.
An ignorant electorate, manipulated by a Marxist dishonest media.
On the good news front. Here’s a picture of some new ICE recruits,
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GvGMDNIWcAApoDG?format=jpg&name=small
If this crop of democrat sludge had constituted the founding generation, there would have been no need for a revolution because the UK would have tossed us out of the empire.
Traditional 4th of July celebrations included cherry bombs in the hands of youth, blowing up this or that. You can make a very satisfactory rifle out of a pipe, a cherry bomb and a marble, and shoot the marble a good distance into a tree trunk. Old flying-model airplanes were good vehicles. That was before TSA thought of it.
Tone deaf midwits, they are.
“freedom of the press and free speech, which is why George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Founding Fathers enshrined that as the very First Amendment”
I am so tired of the historical ignorance of self-important journalists who continually trumpet that the First Amendment is the Very Most Importantest Amendment in World History Because The Founders Made It The First One.
They didn’t. It was originally the THIRD.
The original first was never ratified, and would be moot today anyway, as it set conditions for representation for early population levels that we’ve already surpassed. The original second took over 200 years to be ratified, but finally became the 27th.
Since then, all proposed amendments have come with ratification deadlines, so there are no other “sleepers” out there that could be revived today. Do you hear me, “ERA Brandon?” I’m talking to you and your sharp-as-a-tack dementia.
Rich Baris – thank you for raising the “we are a REPUBLIC”, a Constitutional Republic. Seems to me it would be a good idea if right of center authors did use the term “Republic” as often as possible.
I taught a number of immigrant college students. They voted democrat because they though that was the way to vote for democracy. We had a number of after class discussions about that. Republicans have to take back and use the term “Republican.”
Republicans (the party, not the ideology) are just as useless and feckless as Dramacrats (I *LOVE* that term!).
I.E. – They’re about as much use as a fart in a space suit.
We need more committed Christians (Orthodox Christians*, Messianic Jews, etc.) to get involved in politics and to bring Christ’s message and teachings to the American people. Unfortunately, most of them are taking care of their families, training them up the right way. Just to turn them over to the colleges that are brainwashing them.
*By Orthodox Christian I don’t mean Russian, Greek, Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, etc. I’m referring to Believers of all denominations that actually try to follow and behave (in thought and deed) Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Messiah).
Fair point, but the rest aren’t.
There is no such thing as a right to leak. I hope Trump exceeds 0bama’s record in this regard.
Here again, I applaud 0bama and hope Trump does even more. Reporters are not special and too many presidents treat them as if they’re above the law. Reporters do not have any special constitutional status, and ought to be treated exactly like people in any other occupation.
Such things by their nature depend on secrecy, and they shouldn’t be subject to any Tom Dick or Harry being able to expose our military secrets to the enemy.
And? The premise of this so-called “take-down” is that tariffs only raise the price of imports. Of course that is not true. The entire point of tariffs is to allow domestic producers to raise their prices and make better profits. So if prices on these items have gone up, tariffs might easily be the reason.
Re: Randi Weingarten’s comment. If someone had posted that on a bulletin board at UC Riverside when I was there (Fall 1962 to Spring 1967), Someone would have corrected it and marked it “Subject A.” Subject A was the no-credit class you took if you could not qualify to take freshman English.
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