ATHENS, GREECE: US ex-president Barack Obama has once again found himself on the wrong end of the internet's wrath after comparing the Titan submersible tragedy with the sinking of a refugee boat off southwestern Greece. The 22ft tourist vessel, owned by OceanGate, is now believed to be destroyed after going missing on June 18. There were five men on board and all of them are now presumed dead.
The tragedy came just a few days after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank off the Greek coast. NPR reported that over 80 bodies were retrieved from the water while many were still missing. Obama brought up the migrants’ deaths during the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Nostos 2023 conference in Athens on Thursday, June 22.
‘That's an untenable situation’
The former US President reportedly said, “There is a potential tragedy unfolding with the submarine that is getting, you know, minute-to-minute coverage all around the world, and it's understandable because obviously we all want and pray that those folks are rescued. But the fact that that’s got so much more attention than several hundred people, who sank - that's an untenable situation."
"And, you know, the notion that we can't do something about that is simply not true. We know we can do things for these people,” Obama added. The 61-year-old received applause for his remarks at the event but they seemed to rub the Internet the wrong way.
‘There’s no parallel here’
A critic tweeted, “Said the guy who sent troops to kill people. hypocrisy is colorful.” The second critic wrote, “Obama is a lying faker.” A third commented, “What hypocrisy...he started more wars than George Bush and increased arm selling during his presidency.” Someone else said, “When one of the most horrible people alive says a good thing … and you still aren't fooled by the guy.”
“Isn’t the migrant a frequent occurrence, they’ve had their time on the news. Now it’s the Titan’s turn and this is even more unique. It’s perfectly understandable the media is covering them highly. There’s no parallel here,” a user noted. Another remarked, “Very impressive, from the guy who drone a shit the hell out of Afghanistan, help destroy Libya and ordered killings a hundreds of innocent civilians to pretend he care about human lives? Get real man.”
A person accused, “He's responsible for the refugee crisis. Why did he carry out the GWB Neocon PNAC plans to topple so many countries in the middle east? Instead of ramping down the war, he threw gasoline on the fire displacing even more people.” “Note the disparity and unparalleled media attention for any dogmatic expressions made by Obama. Give us a break and stop comparing tragedies, will you?” a tweet added.
