Video Slams Obama's Legacy as a Disaster and a Liar

In anticipation of President Obama’s farewell address Tuesday night, America Rising PAC released a new video titled “Revisionist History” that highlights a few of the president’s failures during his time in office.



The video begins with a clip of Obama’s infamous “if you like your plan you can keep your plan” statement from 2010, when he promised Americans that they could keep their health insurance plans if the Affordable Care Act passes. While the president said families would not lose their health care plans with Obamacare enshrined as law, millions of American have seen their health insurance plans canceled because of the Affordable Care Act. PolitiFact rated Obama’s promise the “lie of the year” for 2013, after the effects of the landmark law could be seen.



The America Rising video later plays a clip of Obama from early 2014 calling the Islamic State the “JV team.” Months later, the terrorist group took over large swaths of territory in Iraq to add to its strongholds in eastern Syria. The brutality of ISIS has since come to horrify much of the world, and the group has been responsible for thousands of deaths around the world.



On another foreign policy topic, the video castigates Obama for his handling of the chaos in Libya from the Arab Spring. Obama ordered for a military intervention in 2011 to address the growing instability in the country that led to the removal of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi from power. The U.S. did not have a clear plan for after Gaddafi was deposed and killed, and the country devolved into a state of chaos in which various jihadist groups were allowed to thrive.



The video then cuts to an interview from 2016 in which Obama declares that his biggest failure in office was not adequately planning for a response after his initial Libyan intervention.



America Rising also hits Obama for failing to enforce the declared “red line” against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical weapons on his own people. In August 2012, Obama said that if the Syrian government used such weapons against civilians, he would respond forcefully, indicating that would include military action. When it became apparent in 2013 that Assad used chemical weapons, Obama instead backed away from his declaration and accepted a deal brokered by Russia to remove some of the weapons stockpile. The Syrian regime has continued to use chemical weapons on civilians since then.



The two-minute video released by America Rising, a Republican opposition research group, also includes clips of Obama’s legacy regarding the Iran nuclear deal and the American economy.