BREAKING: MAGA World Loses It After Canada Welcomes Obama Like the President He Was
The MAGA faithful melted down this week after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted a warm welcome to former President Barack Obama on X, greeting him ahead of a keynote address at a Toronto think tank. The post was cordial and routine. The right-wing response was anything but.
Far-right influencer Laura Loomer immediately cried coup, demanding to know why Obama was meeting with world leaders while Trump was in office. Others piled on with legal threats and demands that the former president “know his place,” despite the fact that Obama wasn’t negotiating policy or representing the government in any capacity. He was giving a speech, the same kind former presidents have given for decades at universities, corporations, and nonprofit organizations around the world.
Conservative influencer Nick Sortor told Obama to “figure out his place” before threatening prison time over a think tank appearance. Others on X erupted in all-caps fury over Carney referring to Obama simply as “President,” a courtesy title that has been standard in American political culture for generations.
None of the outrage reflected any actual legal violation. It reflected something else entirely: the inability of the MAGA movement to tolerate the existence of a popular, respected former president who commands international attention without trying.
Carney’s greeting came roughly a year after his Oval Office meeting with Trump, during which he made clear that Canada would never be for sale. Obama’s Toronto visit was a private speaking engagement, full stop.
The frenzy said nothing about Obama. It said everything about the fragility of those watching.