Polls PROVE: World Opinion Of U.S. Soars After Obama Years (VIDEO)

President Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention last night. True to form, his speech was fantastic. It was full of hope and optimism about the future and included points about all the many positive things that have happened on his watch.

Obama
Image via YouTube screengrab.

One point he made, though, has conservatives squirming in their seats.

In his speech, Obama said:

“Almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago when I took office.”

Lies From The Right

For nearly eight years now, the right-wing has been claiming that the world views Obama unfavorably and that he has turned the international community against the United States. Their little echo chamber repeats this lie ad nauseum.

In fact, just last year, Fox News personality Gretchen Carlson was called out by the popular website Politifact for saying that the world has a:

“…lower regard for the U.S. now than they did before Obama’s time.”

Just The Facts, Please

How did that same website rate Obama’s statement last night?

Screenshot from Politifact
Screenshot via Politifact

Yes, according to the data, Obama’s statement was mostly true.

Why only mostly?

Semantics, plain and simple. The data shows that Obama’s favorability around the world has increased by significant margins. Politifact puts the “mostly” qualifier on there because the polls do not use the words “strength” or “respect.”

Politifact looked at surveys conducted by Gallup, Pew Research Center, and BBC World Service/Globescan to determine their result. Perhaps the most stunning result was the one from Pew:

“In Pew’s June 2008 survey of 23 countries, 43 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the United States while 48 percent of respondents had an unfavorable view on average.

In 2015 survey of 39 countries, the United States’ favorability jumped up to 69 percent while unfavorability dropped down to 24 percent.

Out of the 21 countries included in both surveys, 18 had a more positive view of the United States in 2015 than they did in 2007. Russia, Lebanon and Jordan on the other hand had a more negative view.”

Here’s Obama’s great speech at the DNC:

Carrie is a progressive mom and wife living in the upper Midwest.