LogFAQs > #983281498

As far as I'm concerned, Barack Obama is the de facto head of the Democratic party. He was the presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012. His secretary of state was the presidential candidate in 2016. His VP was the presidential candidate in 2020. His VP's VP was the presidential candidate in 2024. Everything is either Obama or one of his offshoots.

Donald Trump is the de facto head of the Republican Party. He was the presidential candidate in 2016, 2020, and 2024. You could maybe excuse 2016 and chalk up 2020 to the incumbent running for re-election. But 2024 had no excuse; he defeated Nikki Haley in the primaries despite orchestrating the January 6 riot and having 34 felony convictions.

Barack Obama and Donald Trump absolutely hate each other. The only reason they've never clashed directly is the 22nd Amendment, and that Obama had already served his two terms by the time Trump arrived on the scene. I can't remember another American rivalry so bitter since Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, all the way back in 1804. You could maybe count 1892 when Grover Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison, but Obama vs. Trump definitely seems harsher than that or Biden vs. Trump.