The Artist Behind the “Hope” Poster Is Mad At Obama

Damian Dovarganes/AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Shepard Fairey’s hopes are dashed.

Fairey, the artist who created the iconic “Hope” poster during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, says in a new interview that he is disappointed by Obama’s performance as president.

While discussing his new web series “Rebel Music” with Esquire, Fairey was asked if Obama had lived up to the poster’s expectations. He answered, “Not even close.” Fairey explained: 

Obama has had a really tough time, but there have been a lot of things that he’s compromised on that I never would have expected. I mean, drones and domestic spying are the last things I would have thought [he’d support]. I’ve met Obama a few times, and I think Obama’s a quality human being, but I think that he finds himself in a position where your actions are largely dictated by things out of your control.

Don’t expect him to look to copyrighted Associated Press photos to create an image for Hillary, either. A jaded Fairey says that while he agrees with her on most issues, the “campaign finance structure makes [him] very angry.”   

And with this, the street artist may have provided the Republicans with the perfect tagline come 2016: Democrats, a hope deferred!

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2022 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate