Barack Obama’s One Neat Rhetorical Trick

Not even his most vociferous critics would fail to concede that Barack Obama is a talented orator. He still is, though the devices he employed to such effect during his two runs for the White House have grown a little stale. During his address to an easily electrified audience of Democrats in Chicago on Tuesday, Obama deployed the kind of apophasis and rhetorical extortion that served him so well as a campaigner but undermined his efficacy as an executive.

Lacquered with saccharine sentiment, Obama admonished the crowd in ways that sound superficially scolding but, in fact, flatter their sensibilities. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, Obama insisted, “believe in” an “America where ‘we the people’ includes everyone.” And “despite what our politics might suggest, I think most Americans understand that.” Indeed, who doesn’t understand that? You know who.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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Not even his most vociferous critics would fail to concede that Barack Obama is a talented orator. He still is, though the devices he employed to such effect during his two runs for the White House have grown a little stale. During his address to an easily electrified audience of Democrats in Chicago on Tuesday, Obama deployed the kind of apophasis and rhetorical extortion that served him so well as a campaigner but undermined his efficacy as an executive.

Lacquered with saccharine sentiment, Obama admonished the crowd in ways that sound superficially scolding but, in fact, flatter their sensibilities. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, Obama insisted, “believe in” an “America where ‘we the people’ includes everyone.” And “despite what our politics might suggest, I think most Americans understand that.” Indeed, who doesn’t understand that? You know who.

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.