In the latest episode of the “IMO” podcast — the same one where Barack Obama appeared alongside Michelle to help shut down rumors of a looming divorce — the former first couple shifted the conversation to the topic of boys and fatherhood.
But what started as a seemingly harmless discussion quickly veered into unsettling territory. What was framed as a conversation about raising well-rounded young men ended up sounding more like a rejection of traditional family and fatherhood, as well as a subtle push for ideological reprogramming. Obama didn’t just downplay the importance of fathers; he openly advocated for embedding young boys to be groomed by members of the LGBTQ community.
The message was that traditional masculinity isn’t enough, and boys need to be groomed — ideologically, emotionally, and socially — by progressive role models.
“That’s one of the things that I think a lot of times boys need,” Obama said, “not just exposure to one guy—”
“One dad,” Michelle interjected.
“One dad,” Barack agreed. “No matter how good the dad is.”
Michelle echoed the point: “He can’t be everything.”
What exactly are boys supposed to be missing out on from their fathers? According to Obama, it’s the leftist worldview delivered through the kinds of adult relationships that sound more like social reengineering than genuine mentorship.
“One of the most valuable things I learned as a guy was, I had a gay professor in college,” Obama recalled. “Who became one of my favorite professors and was a great guy, and would call me out when I started saying stuff that was ignorant.”
“You need that,” he insisted. “To show empathy and kindness.”
That might sound benign on the surface, but it was only the beginning. Obama then spelled out what he really meant: the normalization of LGBTQ ideology in young boys’ lives, even before they’ve figured out who they are. “You need that person in your friend group so that if you then have a boy who is, who’s gay or non-binary or what have you, they have somebody that they can go, ‘Okay, I’m not alone in this.’”
The implication here is disturbing. Obama is essentially suggesting that fathers aren’t enough, that young boys need LGBTQ adults embedded in their personal circles — not just to offer “perspective” but to steer them ideologically.
This is grooming, plain and simple. It may not be grooming in the criminal sense (I hope) but in the broader cultural one — planting seeds, breaking down traditional roles, and promoting identity confusion as a form of development.
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This isn’t about preparing kids for the real world. It’s about reshaping them into foot soldiers for the left’s gender ideology. The nuclear family? Insufficient. A strong father? Too narrow-minded. Instead, a curated circle of leftists who are ready to “correct” their thinking and guide them toward gender and sexual identity exploration should mold young boys, whether they’re asking for it or not.
This kind of rhetoric would’ve been unimaginable from a former president just a few years ago. Yet here we are — Barack, with Michelle nodding along, telling America that fathers aren’t enough and that boys need gay men to help define who they are. Wrapped in buzzwords like “inclusion” and “empathy,” this isn’t parenting advice; it’s a blatant attempt to inject identity politics into the most personal parts of a child’s development.
This is grooming dressed up as mentorship. It’s a calculated push to erode the role of the traditional family and replace it with a leftist ideology that treats children as blank slates for activists to mold. Obama isn’t talking about tolerance; he’s advocating for ideological exposure at a vulnerable age, and that should set off alarm bells for every parent in America.
This isn’t guidance; it’s indoctrination.
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