Things are looking pretty bleak for Barack Obama’s supporters right now.
The popular US President is set to leave office, with his replacement – Donald Trump – representing the polar opposite to a lot of people.
Under political rules in the United States, Obama is forbidden from serving a third consecutive term, though he is able to take action on a number of things before President Trump is inaugurated in January.
That’s why he’s been able to stand in the way of an attack on reproductive healthcare which some Americans felt could be on the cards under Trump.
The wave of Americans thanking Obama for his achievements in office shows how well-loved he was among sections of the US population, but the United States will now have to make do without him.
And now, like any good opportunist, some Brits are beginning to ask whether the outgoing president might be able to lead this country.
https://twitter.com/Kenna_Lily/status/795933278851203072
Does Obama want to come over here and be our Prime Minister? At least we don't have to get rid of him after 8 years
— ames (@xamyflynnx) November 11, 2016
I have an idea.
Let’s find a way to have Obama as Prime Minister and then let’s have all the cool Americans move here for 4 years. Yeah?— Sarah Parmenter (@sazzy) November 9, 2016
Obama for Prime Minister
— Revilo (@OJHoppy) November 12, 2016
And it’s not just hopeful pleas on social media any more – someone has actually decided to start a petition to grant President Obama and his family British citizenship and ‘make Britain Great again’.
The mission statement of the petition, created by Alice Atkinson-Bonasio of Cambridge, reads as follows:
‘Replace the UK’s unelected Prime Minister Theresa May with soon-to-be-former-POTUS Barack Obama.
‘We the undersigned believe that Mr Obama is one of the greatest political leaders of our generation and deeply regret the fact that [Obama’s] legacy has been put in jeopardy by the results of the November 8th US Election.
‘We would be honoured to offer him and his family full UK Citizenship and the opportunity to make Britain Great again’.
As things stand, Obama would not be eligible to become Prime Minister as the holder of the position must be a citizen of the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth.
However the petition would get around that rule by granting him full UK citizenship.
At the time of writing it has fewer than 100 signatures, though, so support isn’t quite at critical mass just yet.
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