Squad Members Clap Back at Obama's 'Defund the Police' Clapback [View all]

Members of the self-styled Democratic “Squad” responded to President Barack Obama’s criticism of the slogan “Defund the Police” — which also prompted a mixture of strong reactions from other political and media figures on Twitter.

President Obama’s comments — published in part Tuesday night, but aired in full Wednesday morning on Peter Hamby’s Good Luck America show on Snapchat — included a pragmatic critique of the slogan, along with support for the reforms its adherents promote.

“If you believe, as I do, that we should be able to reform the criminal justice system so that it’s not biased, and treats everybody fairly, I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘Defund the Police,’ but you know you’ve lost a big audience the minute you say it. Which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done,” Obama said in one portion of the interview.

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar clapped back at Obama by explaining that the slogan is “not a slogan.”