Obama says he ‘doesn’t buy’ that woman or candidate of colour can’t win 2020 presidential election

Former president's comments come after potential candidate Michael Avenatti said that a white man would have best chance of winning

Barack Obama has pushed back against the idea that Democrats need to elect a candidate of a certain race or gender to beat Donald Trump in 2020, as some in the party have argued.

Mr Obama spoke about the choice facing Democrats in a wide-ranging podcast interview with his former strategist David Axelrod at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

Mr Axelrod, the institute's director and CNN commentator, asked about those who say the party would make a mistake in selecting another woman or candidate of colour as its presidential nominee.

“That kind of stuff, I don't buy," Mr Obama replied.

“With respect to going forward, the idea that there's some demographic or profile of a particular candidate that is the optimal one or the ideal one, that's just not how I've seen politics work,” he said. “I think people respond to candidates who speak to the moment in some fashion.”

Neither Mr Obama or Mr Axelrod mentioned any names, but several potential White House contenders have recently weighed in with their thoughts on the ideal profile for a Democratic candidate - in one case, even before the 2018 midterm elections had concluded.

Attorney Michael Avenatti said in an interview with Time magazine last month that he believes a white man would have the best chance at winning.

“I think it better be a white male,” said Mr Avenatti, who is openly considering a White House bid. “When you have a white male making the arguments, they carry more weight. ... Should they carry more weight? Absolutely not. But do they? Yes.”

Critics swiftly denounced the comments as perpetuating racist and sexist stereotypes. Mr Avenatti defended himself in a tweet in which he said he has “consistently called on white males like me to step, take responsibility, and be a part of stopping the sexism and bigotry that other white males engage in”.

Shortly after making the comments the 47-year-old, was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence last week after his girlfriend told police he abused her at his Los Angeles apartment following an argument.

However, the Los Angeles district attorney declined to prosecute the attorney him on felony domestic abuse charges and referred allegations that he abused his girlfriend to the city attorney for a possible misdemeanour case

Another potential contender, Bernie Sanders, also came under fire for an interview this month with the Daily Beast in which he said that there are “a lot of white folks out there” in Florida and Georgia “who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American”.

“I think next time around, by the way, it will be a lot easier for them to do that,” Mr Sanders said.

Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum in Florida and former state House minority leader Stacey Abrams in Georgia narrowly lost their gubernatorial bids this month. If elected, Mr Gillum and Ms Abrams would have become the first black governors of their respective states.

A Sanders spokesman later clarified in a statement to NPR that the senator was speaking about racist attacks made against both candidates.

Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University, recently told The Washington Post that Ms Abrams's strong showing in Georgia should silence the faction of Democrats and progressives who were “worried about whites not voting for a black candidate”.

The debate over the 2020 field is playing out against the backdrop of a newly-elected Congress in which a majority of the House Democratic caucus will be women and non-white lawmakers.

In the Axe Files interview with Mr Axelrod, Mr Obama cited his own 2008 victory as well as Trump's in 2016 as examples of how generalisations about the chances of certain candidates proved wrong.

“You don't know how all these various factors are going to converge until you try,” he said.

He did, however, contrast his own view of America with what he described as that of the current president.

“I think what's unique about America is our aspirations to be a large, successful, multiracial, multicultural, multiethnic, multi-religious, pluralistic democracy,” Mr Obama said.

“Do you think that's President Trump's vision?” Mr Axelrod asked.

Obama responded without hesitation.

“No. Obviously not,” he said. “We have contrasting visions about what America is. And that's self-apparent.”

The Washington Post