Exclusive: 10 years ago, a day to remember for Obama
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President Obama delivers the eulogy during the funeral of slain pastor, Rev. and South Carolina State Sen. Clementa Pinckney, at the College of Charleston TD Arena on June 26, 2015. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Ten years ago today, Barack Obama says, two events captured the "mourning and sadness" of America's divisions, as well as a "celebration of who we could be."
- On June 26, 2015, Obama delivered a eulogy — and sang the opening lines of "Amazing Grace" — for the leader of a Black church in Charleston, S.C., one of nine victims of a shooting there.
- Hours earlier, his team had lauded the Supreme Court's landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
Driving the news: In an interview with social media influencer Garrison Hayes out today, Obama calls that day a defining time for him and his administration.
Zoom in: Taken together, the events seemed to reflect some of the nation's racial and cultural divisions that many hoped Obama's presidency would bridge.
- But in a video of the interview previewed by Axios, Obama tells Hayes that he was inspired by the examples of "courage" he saw that day, and the challenges it represented for the nation.
- "I think what pulls it all together is that no one person did any of that. It was just a bunch of people figuring out how I can make something better," Obama says in the video.
- Obama says the events occurred the day after the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act in a challenge called King v. Burwell.
- It was a second ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which was still on his mind three years later.
Flashback: The day began with the high court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which required states to license and recognize same-sex marriage. It ended a long legal fight that had begun in Massachusetts and New Mexico a decade earlier.
- The ruling was met with excitement among civil rights advocates and scorn by religious conservatives.
- Rainbow colors lit up the White House that evening in celebration.
Obama traveled to Charleston, S.C., that day to deliver the eulogy for Clementa Pinckney, the slain pastor at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, who also was a state senator.
- A week and a half earlier, a 21-year-old white supremacist fatally shot Pinckney and eight other church members during a Bible study class at Emanuel, the oldest AME church in the South.
- "I didn't even want to talk," Obama told Hayes. "I was so mad. Part of the reason I think I ended up having anything to say at that moment was when I heard some of the victims' families forgive the shooter."
Zoom out: Eric Schultz, senior adviser to Obama, said the ex-president wanted to mark the 10th anniversary of these events by talking with a young online creator.
- Schultz said the events "resonate today — namely that making progress in our democracy relies on ordinary people doing their best to make America a better place."
Hayes is an influencer with nearly a million followers on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube combined.
- He produces innovative short documentaries on Black history, faith and politics.
The other side: The Obergefell anniversary arrives as some Republicans seek to have the Supreme Court revisit the decision and potentially overturn it.
- The Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly this month to call for the overturning of the decision.
Yes, but: Polls show that Americans overwhelmingly support marriage equality.
- 72% of all voters believe that same-sex couples should have the right to marry, and 55% of Republicans support the Respect For Marriage Act, according to a survey released this month by Centerline Liberties and Project Right Side.
- The Respect for Marriage Act, which became law under President Biden in 2022, gives protections to same-sex and interracial marriages.
- "In just a few years, same-sex marriage has transitioned from a divisive political issue to an accepted social norm," said Alex Lundry, co-founder of Redbud Consulting.
As most Americans continue to support marriage equality, the Confederate symbols that came under attack after the Charleston massacre have returned.
- President Trump's administration announced this month, ahead of the Charleston anniversary, that it would restore the original names of seven military bases that originally honored Confederate officers.
