Barack Obama has joined the chorus of critics targeting Los Angeles over its alarming homelessness crisis, as the city experiences a troubling decline. The former president expressed his concerns during an interview with podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen, highlighting the inadequacies in how Democratic leaders are tackling the issue.
Obama pointed out that many Democratic politicians adopt a lenient stance that denies accountability. He emphasized that public support can’t be garnered by merely excusing behaviors, stating, “We’re not going to be able to generate support for it if we simply say, ‘You know what, it’s not their fault and so they should be able to do whatever they want.'”
In his critique, Obama singled out Mayor Karen Bass and other city officials, accusing them of employing “a losing political strategy” in their efforts to manage the crisis.
He stressed the need to acknowledge the concerns of average citizens, who are often inconvenienced by the presence of extensive tent cities in downtown areas, saying, “We should recognize that the average person doesn’t want to have to navigate around a tent city in the middle of downtown.”
Obama urged Democratic leaders to seek out practical solutions that address homelessness without exacerbating the living conditions for the broader community.
Instead, Obama said, Democrats should find practical ways to solve the problem without making life worse for everyone else.
‘That doesn’t mean that we care less about those folks. It means if we really care about them, then we got to try to figure out how do we gain majority support and be practical in terms of what we can get through at this moment in time and build on those victories,’ he said.
Ultimately, he agrees that the homeless problem in Los Angeles and across America has become untenable.
Barack Obama became the latest to slam liberal Los Angeles for its shocking homelessness epidemic as the city continues its decline
The former president told podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen in a wide-ranging interview that Democrat politicians take a lax approach on the issue and ignore accountability. Pictured: Homeless in Los Angeles on Saturday
‘I think it is morally — ethically speaking — it is an atrocity that in a country this wealthy, we have people just on the streets, and we should insist on policies that recognize their full humanity — people who are houseless — and be able to provide them with the help and resources that they need.’
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority said that homelessness has decreased in each of the past two years, going down four percent to 72,308 living on the streets of LA County.
In addition, homelessness in the city fell 3.4 percent to 43,699 in the city of Los Angeles alone.
However, earlier this week, The Daily Mail spoke to real estate agent and native Angeleno, Makan Mostafavi, who says the City of Angels is officially dead, in part thanks to not solving the problem.
‘[Now], when you do go out, everyone around you is so stressed out from rent bills, just stressed of everyday life, with everything that’s going on – the homeless, the crime, the high taxes, the just terrible road conditions.
‘It’s just not as fun anymore.’
And unlike the manic scenes inside the clubs that left partygoers with wild stories, he claimed young people today are standing around on their phones, aware that letting loose too much could end up all over social media the next day.
Mostafavi, who has lived in LA since the 1980s, said Los Angeles’ crime, homelessness, and drug problems are the culprits of the dying nightlife scene.
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Obama called out Mayor Karen Bass and other leaders in the city for using ‘a losing political strategy’ to navigate the issue
Los Angeles has declined over the last 10 years, as streets have become filled with homeless people and drug addicts, making residents feel unsafe (pictured: Skid Row in March 2020)
Women hide their nice jewelry and bags, leaving them at home for safekeeping, rather than risk a thief trying to rob them while on a night out. Men keep their Rolex watches out of sight too, the real estate agent, who has 34,000 Instagram followers, claimed.
Mostafavi claimed robbers have gotten smart too, now bringing the screwdriver that unlocks the Cartier love bracelets.
‘It’s comical,’ he said.
In 2025, there were 1,393 armed robberies, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. It was slightly down from 2024, which saw 1,856.
Overall crime was down in the county, which still saw 60,400 violent crimes take place last year.
‘It’s a broken system,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘If they [the government] can take care of the crime and homelessness and help improve the economy, there’s no way [nightlife] would not improve. It would definitely improve.’
The City of Angels saw many historic establishments suffering and shuttering in the past year.
Cole’s French Dip, which is credited with creating the iconic sandwich, is on the brink of closure.
It announced it would close in August 2025 due to a multitude of issues but mainly because the economy had sucked it dry.
It later moved its closing date to the end of 2025 due to customer support, and has since pushed it back again.
‘While we absolutely can’t keep Cole’s going in its current iteration, and we will have to close soon, we can’t thank you enough for your patronage and support of our historic venue,’ its website read.
Le Petit Four, a restaurant, also shuttered its door last year after 40 years as it couldn’t keep up with the rising price of things, including minimum wage. In 2016, minimum wage was $10, now it’s $17.87.
‘In order for us to survive, we would have to sell $80 steaks,’ the general manager, Luc Mena, told NBC Los Angeles in March.
The concert hall, Mayan, which had been open since 1927, closed, as well as, Sunset Boulevard hotspot LAVO that shuttered on New Year’s Eve.
Other noteworthy restaurants, such as Rosaline and The Den, have also closed down. The Den had been on Sunset Boulevard for 16 years before shuttering.
Restaurant patronage dropped five percent between January and August 2025, OpenTable data shared with The Hollywood Reporter showed.
‘It has been a difficult run for LA restaurants,’ Resy owner Pablo Rivero told the outlet. ‘Even in the best of times, these businesses operate on tight margins – any disruption can shake the foundation, and LA has had a wave of them.’
