A Conservative Commentator Posits That Barack Obama Destroyed Rock And Roll Music

It may seem like everybody loves Barack Obama, but the former president certainly has his share of detractors; When he left the White House in 2017, his approval rating was 57 percent. So, a bit over half the country gave Obama a thumbs-up, while the rest of the nation didn’t share that enthusiasm. Obama’s detractors often try to blame shortcomings of American and global life on things he did before, during, and even after his presidency, and there’s at least one political commentator who thinks the former POTUS is responsible for the decline of rock music.

During the September 14 episode of Daily Wire Backstage, a roundtable discussion program from conservative news outlet The Daily Wire, Jeremy Boreing declared, “Rock ‘n roll’s over. You’re still talking about rock ‘n roll as if Barack Obama didn’t happen. Honestly – it’s for another day – Barack Obama destroyed rock ‘n roll.”

Michael Knowles chimed in in agreement before Boreing continued, “There was rock ‘n roll, then there was Barack Obama, now there’s no rock ‘n roll. Because rock ‘n roll was about white male angst, white male teenage angst.”

Ben Shapiro then interjected to acknowledge rock’s history of appropriation, saying, “And stealing a lot of its tropes from better Black music.” Boreing continued, “Barack Obama came along and said young white men aren’t allowed to have angst. They’re not allowed to, basically, express their dissatisfaction because they’re so toxic. And so, truly, rock ‘n roll just stopped.”

It may be worth noting that Obama has long given props to rock music and shown himself to be a fan. In just the summer playlist he shared in July, for example, he included songs by George Harrison, The Rolling Stones, Chicago, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Wye Oak, and Brandi Carlile. Obama also co-hosts a podcast with Bruce Springsteen, and the pair is even publishing a book together.