Former Democrat President Barack Obama was slammed on social media after appearing to endorse books containing graphic LGBTQ+ content unsuitable for children.
In a letter praising librarians in the US for battling “on the front lines” of the “banned book” war he said is waged “by people who disagree with certain ideas,” Obama claimed “some of the books” being challenged “shaped his life,” before going on to add he’s against censoring them.
“Today, some of the books that shaped my life — and the lives of so many others — are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives,” Obama said in a letter to librarians posted to Twitter Monday.
Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. And librarians are on the front lines, fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and… pic.twitter.com/txhCTfH3Gh
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 17, 2023
“It’s no coincidence that these ‘banned books’ are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community — though there have also been unfortunate instances in which books by conservative authors or books containing ‘triggering’ words or scenes have been targets for removal,” Obama continued. “Either way, the impulse seems to be to silence, rather than engage, rebut, learn from or seek to understand views that don’t fit our own.”
Many on social media immediately pushed back against Obama’s flagrantly disingenuous misrepresentation of the books conservatives want banned, pointing out the books they want removed from school libraries contain pornographic depictions of oral and gay sex.
