MSNBC’s Kumar Lauds Obama’s ‘Unity’ While Bashing GOP ‘Hate’ – But Data Shows Division Exploded Under Dem Rule
By Marcus Hale, Media & Politics Analyst November 8, 2025
NEW YORK — In a segment that crystallized the left’s nostalgia-fueled amnesia, MSNBC contributor Maria Teresa Kumar heaped praise on Barack Obama’s presidency as a “time of unity” while torching Republicans for peddling “hate” in the Trump era. Speaking on Deadline: White House Thursday, the Voto Latino CEO and frequent network voice gushed that Obama’s 2008 campaign “brought us together” before pivoting to a scathing indictment: “What we’re seeing now with Republicans is a politics of hate… They’re weaponizing division.” The remarks, aired amid post-election fallout from Democrats’ off-year wins in Virginia and New Jersey, conveniently gloss over the explosive polarization that defined Obama’s eight years—and the progressive policies that left working-class Americans reeling.
Kumar’s love letter to Obama ignored the numbers. Pew Research’s polarization index skyrocketed from 36 points in 2008 to 46 by 2016, with partisan trust in government cratering: Just 19% of Republicans approved of Obama by his exit, vs. 81% of Democrats—a 62-point chasm. Racial resentment metrics, per ANES data, hit post-Civil Rights highs under his watch, fueled by events like Ferguson and the rise of Black Lives Matter. Obama’s signature ACA—rammed through on party-line votes—left premiums doubling for many middle-class families, with 29 million still uninsured by 2016 despite $1.8 trillion spent. The Iran deal, Fast & Furious, and IRS targeting of conservatives weren’t “unity”—they were flashpoints that birthed the Tea Party and set the stage for Trump’s 2016 upset.
Host Nicolle Wallace nodded along, framing GOP resistance to Democratic shutdown demands as “hate-fueled obstruction.” But the real division? Look at the shutdown itself—Day 39, triggered by Schumer’s filibuster of 14 clean CRs to force ACA subsidy extensions. Kumar’s silence on that spoke volumes. Instead, she lauded Obama’s “hope and change” while ignoring how his administration’s regulatory onslaught—2,000+ major rules costing $890 billion—crushed small businesses and manufacturing jobs. Median household income stagnated at $56,500 until Trump’s tax cuts juiced it to $68,700 pre-COVID.
X erupted in conservative pushback. #MSNBCLies trended with 180,000 posts: @GuntherEagleman torched Kumar’s “revisionist history,” posting Obama’s approval splits (14K likes). @C_3C_3C quipped: “Obama united us… in record division!” (9K likes). Even moderates piled on: @TheRightMelissa shared ANES racial resentment charts, asking, “Unity? Under Obama?” (12K likes). Liberal defenses were sparse—@Acyn’s clip of Kumar’s praise drew 2,100 likes but 1,800 replies roasting the “delusion.”
Kumar’s MSNBC perch—where GOP critiques are “hate” but AOC calling border agents “fascists” is “passion”—exemplifies the left’s refusal to self-reflect. Working-class Americans didn’t flee Obama’s “unity” for Trump’s “hate”—they fled stagnant wages, endless wars, and elite contempt. The MSNBC bubble can rewrite history, but voters remember: Obama’s hope morphed into despair for flyover country. Republicans aren’t dividing—they’re delivering. As Sen. Kennedy drawled on Fox: “The left wants unity… as long as you’re united behind their failures.”
Politically incorrect truth: Kumar’s Obama worship isn’t analysis—it’s coping for a party that lost the working class because it prioritized coastal elites and identity politics over kitchen-table issues. Republicans stand for the forgotten men and women who built this country, not the MSNBC mandarins who sneer at them. The “hate” isn’t in GOP policies—it’s in the left’s contempt for anyone who dares disagree. Unity? Start by admitting Obama’s era fractured America more than it healed. The receipts don’t lie—and neither should the pundits.
