Former President Barack Obama has resurfaced with a dire warning: that America is teetering on the edge of autocracy. The comments came during a speaking engagement Tuesday at The Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford, where he painted a bleak picture of the current federal government, hinting that President Trump’s administration is eroding democracy.

“There has to be a response and pushback from civil society… but there also have to be people in government in both parties who say, ‘No, you can’t do that,’” Obama urged. He compared today’s America to authoritarian regimes, citing Hungary under Viktor Orbán as a cautionary tale. “We’re not there yet completely,” he said, “but I think that we are dangerously close to normalizing behavior like that.”

Obama insisted the danger lies in the federal government’s “weak commitment” to liberal democratic values and said democracy since World War II is being “undermined.”

What he didn’t mention? His own administration’s aggressive and often legally questionable actions—many of which fit the very definition of autocracy he now warns against.

Under Obama, the federal government spied on journalists, targeted political opponents with the IRS, and authorized the extrajudicial killing of American citizens via drone strike. These are not conservative talking points—they are documented actions from his presidency.

Obama’s Department of Justice, led by Eric Holder, went so far as to label Fox News reporter James Rosen a criminal co-conspirator under the Espionage Act in 2010, gaining access to his private emails and phone records. Twenty Associated Press journalists also had their communications seized in what the AP called “a massive and unprecedented intrusion” into press freedom.

Then there’s the infamous IRS scandal, where conservative organizations with names like “Tea Party” or “Patriots” were subjected to deliberate delays and scrutiny when applying for tax-exempt status. The targeting was politically motivated and carried out by one of the most feared federal agencies.

And while Obama now voices concern over “authoritarian” behavior, critics point out his administration normalized drone warfare, including the targeted killing of U.S. citizens without trial—such as Anwar al-Awlaki and his teenage son, both American citizens.

Yet now, Obama warns that democracy is in danger because of Trump’s policies? Critics are calling it a masterclass in projection.

His hypocrisy didn’t end there. Obama couldn’t resist taking a swipe at Trump’s 2016 inauguration, joking, “My inauguration had more people.” He then claimed he wasn’t saying it to brag, only to state a “fact.” As many pointed out, it’s clear he still cares—a lot.

Even more jarring is the context: Obama’s comments come just four years after Democrats assured voters that a pandemic-era election wouldn’t depress turnout—only for Joe Biden to supposedly secure over 81 million votes, a record-breaking figure that many continue to question.

To conservatives, Obama’s appearance serves as a reminder of the two-tier standard often applied by legacy media and political elites. His administration’s actual record, they argue, reveals the true “slide into autocracy”—one that began not under Trump, but under the last Democrat to hold the White House.

And while Obama may now call for “pushback,” many Americans are wondering why he never showed the same urgency when his own administration trampled civil liberties in real time.

With Trump back in the White House and promising to drain the swamp for good, it’s no surprise that the former president is rallying the left with doomsday rhetoric. But this time, the public might be less willing to forget who wrote the playbook on abuse of power in the first place.