Shepard Fairey Says Obama Has Disappointed Him

Shepard Fairey, the artist behind the famous Obama ‘Hope’ posters of the 2008 election said he doesn’t think the President lived up to the promise depicted in the iconic art piece.

Shepard Fairey Says He’s Disappointed In Obama

Fairey, who is also known as Obey Giant, created the iconic ‘Hope’ poster in 2008, which ended up being co-opted by the campaign and Barack Obama supporters. With a new Presidential race on the horizon in 2016, Fairey reflected on the President he championed in a new interview. When asked if he thought Obama had lived up to all the promise depicted in his poster, Fairey answered with a decisive, “Not even close.”

Fairey expanded on his disappointment, saying he was particularly unhappy with Obama’s support of “drones and domestic spying,” but also saw him as a product of a political system corrupted by money. “I’ve met Obama a few times, and I think Obama’s a quality human being, but I think that he finds himself in a position where your actions are largely dictated by things out of your control. I’m not giving him a pass for not being more courageous, but I do think the entire system needs an overhaul and taking money out of politics would be a really good first step,” Fairey said.

Fairey said he has no interest in lending his art to any political candidate in the upcoming election, though he did say that he tends to side with Hilary Clinton on ideological issues.

“I agree with Hilary on most issues, but campaign finance structure makes me very angry, because it means that politicians are going to have to raise a huge amount of money, which narrows the field dramatically,” Fairey said.

Fairey is a pretty vocal opponent of the Republican Party. In November of 2014, Fairey took to Facebook after Time magazine copied his ‘Hope’ poster with an image of Mitch McConnell. “I don’t think the Republican platform of tax breaks for the rich, voter suppression, never ending war and fear-mongering, corporate welfare, sexism and lack of empathy for the struggles of the shrinking middle class really align with the values of most Americans,” he wrote.

Fairey may appear disillusioned with both parties, but the artist is still hopeful and encouraged his followers to become educated voters. “I have my own issues with Obama, but the Republicans created many of the problems for the nation that they blame Obama for, and a largely uniformed populace, susceptible to misinformation, believed them. We all need to know what we are really voting for,” he added.

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