Former President Barack Obama attempted to quietly meet with nearly three dozen freshman House Democrats Wednesday night to discuss their strategy for undermining the Trump administration, and retaking the White House from Republicans.
The meeting took place at the Capitol Hill home of Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat and establishment insider. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hosted the event, which was moderated by Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat.
Obama told the young lawmakers to fight against cynicism as Democrats search for a path forward following their landslide 2024 election losses and historic unpopularity among voters.
“I get feeling discouraged sometimes,” Obama reportedly said. “I get feeling worn out, tired, and embattled. But in our second term, Denis McDonough, my chief of staff, used to pass out stickers based on a conversation that he and I had had that talked about, ‘we do not succumb to cynicism — cynicism is our enemy.’ And it’s pervasive in this town.”
Obama compared their currently unpopularity to 2004, when Democrats faced similar despair after badly losing the presidential election and both chambers of Congress.
“Because when I was… everybody remembers the Democratic National Convention in 2004. When you were. …well, you were in elementary school,” Obama said, drawing laughter. “But what people don’t recall is that John Kerry lost that election. And we didn’t control the House, and we did not control the Senate.”
“Tom Daschle, who was then the Democratic leader of the Senate, lost, which is unheard of,” Obama said. “And Karl Rove, who was the chief architect of George Bush’s campaigns and political career … could be found on all the TV stations, talking about the ‘permanent Republican majority’ that had been created.”
“Two years later, Nancy Pelosi was the first woman speaker of the House of Representatives. And four years later, somehow, I ended up being president,” Obama said.
“The reason I tell you that is not for you to, you know, feel complacent. It’s to indicate that the work that you are doing right now, the investment you’re making, the focus that you’re applying, the issues that you are developing, the interactions that you’re having with your constituencies. All that is creating the momentum and the opportunity for change.”
The secretive meeting to plot their White House comeback strategy is only the second time in his post-presidency that Obama has met with freshman Democrats.
Obama has become more active on the campaign trail over the past year, stumping for Democratic candidates in New Jersey’s and Virginia’s gubernatorial races.
The meeting comes as Democrats search for their path forward during Trump’s second term. President Trump swept all seven battleground states in 2024 and won both the Electoral College and popular vote in a landslide victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris.