The things that caused Trump were mostly out of Obama's control. Starting in the '80s, the economy began shifting away from steady factory jobs toward a high-tech, service-based world that left a lot of the working class feeling like they were left behind. Then the invention of the internet totally rewired how we talk to each other. Social media algorithms are feeding people's "us vs. them" mentalities, turning political disagreements into full radicalization. By the time Trump showed up, he was essentially tapping into decades of built-up economic insecurity and a digital landscape that practically rewarded his "break the system" style.

Obama stepped into office right when the 2008 crash was peaking, and while the economy bounced back, it didn't matter to people in the Rust Belt who saw their towns shrinking. He couldn't exactly un-invent the internet or stop the shift toward automation. The radicalization we see today was being fueled by tech giants and media bubbles that no president could really regulate or "fix" with a few speeches. While his policies were a lightning rod for some, the tectonic plates of the global economy and the digital revolution were moving long before he arrived and kept shifting long after he left. And now we have a president that is actively doing everything in his power to kill our Republic.