{"id":12732,"date":"2025-08-29T16:01:37","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/obama-calls-texas-dem-as-he-continues-rallying-the-party-against-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T16:01:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T16:01:37","slug":"obama-calls-texas-dem-as-he-continues-rallying-the-party-against-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/obama-calls-texas-dem-as-he-continues-rallying-the-party-against-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama calls Texas Dem as he continues rallying the party against Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Barack Obama called Texas state Rep. James Talarico last week to express support for his leadership in the state\u2019s redistricting battle, according to two people familiar with the call.<\/p>\n

The former president specifically praised Talarico as an effective spokesperson for showing up on different media and platforms, including his recent interview with Joe Rogan<\/u><\/a> \u2014 which Obama told him requires risk and authenticity.<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s call to Talarico comes as the Texas Democrat weighs entry into the state\u2019s Senate race, which would pit him against former Rep. Colin Allred in a Democratic primary. The recent call between the two was not Obama signaling a preference in such a primary, the sources familiar said, and the two did not discuss a potential Senate run.<\/p>\n

The call also comes as Obama has reengaged in the political moment in ways broadly uncommon for a former Oval Office occupant in response to President Donald Trump\u2019s actions during his second term.<\/p>\n

In private, he\u2019s holding calls with the party\u2019s rising stars. Earlier this summer, Obama called Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor in New York City, where the former president \u201coffered him advice about governing and discussed the importance of giving people hope in a dark time,\u201d The New York Times reported<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In public, he\u2019s rallying Democrats in a number of ways. He\u2019s actively encouraging Democrats to fight the GOP\u2019s Trump-inspired mid-cycle gerrymandering efforts \u2014 \u201can existential threat to our democracy,\u201d Obama said in a video he posted Thursday<\/a>. This week he trumpeted the party\u2019s upset victory in a special election<\/a> for a seat in the Iowa state Senate. \u201cWhen we are organized and support strong candidates who are focused on the issues that matter, we can win. Let’s keep this going,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s endorsed, via X<\/a>, Wednesday\u2019s edition of Ezra Klein\u2019s New York Times show<\/a>. In that episode, the host shared his concern that Trump is \u201ccreating crisis and disorder so he can build what he has wanted to build: an authoritarian state, a military or a paramilitary that answers only to him \u2014 that puts him in total control.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all amounts to something of an escalation for Obama. In April, he spoke about the importance of the \u201crules-based\u201d order<\/a> and criticized the Trump administration\u2019s crackdown on Big Law. In June, he shared his concern that<\/a> America was fast approaching a \u201csituation in which all of us are going to be tested in some way, and we are going to have to then decide what our commitments are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps now that test has arrived. \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

It comes at a moment when the Democratic Party is largely rudderless at the national level, seemingly adrift. In that vacuum \u2014 no clear leader, no clear vision, no identifiable cause at the moment aside from stopping Trump \u2014 Obama may be the party\u2019s most unifying figure.<\/p>\n

Like this content? Consider signing up for Blue Light News’s <\/i>Playbook newsletter<\/i><\/a>. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barack Obama called Texas state Rep. James Talarico last week to express support for his leadership in the state\u2019s redistricting battle, according to two people familiar with the call. The former president specifically praised Talarico as an effective spokesperson for showing up on different media and platforms, including his recent interview with Joe Rogan \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}