Former President Barack Obama has made a statement about U.S. elections that has many raising their eyebrows. 

It was one of those statements that, no doubt, was aimed at President-Elect Donald Trump and Republicans, but that, instead, backfired on Obama.

Obama made the statement, according to Breitbart News, during a recent speech that he gave at the third annual Obama Foundation Democracy Forum, which was held in Chicago, Illinois. Take a look and listen:

NEW: Obama says Republicans are the ones who rig elections and weaponize the justice system while speaking at a "Democracy Forum."

The comment was so outrageous that Obama could barely get the words out of his mouth.

"One side tries to stack the deck and lock in [very long… pic.twitter.com/LoKM5d7rjr

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 6, 2024

Here is what Obama had to say:

He suggested that one political party is trying to steal elections and politicize the U.S. government.

In the above video clip, Obama can be heard saying:

There are going to be times, potentially, when one side tries to stack the deck and lock in a [long pause] permanent grip on power—either by actively suppressing votes, or politicizing the armed forces, or using the judiciary and the criminal justice system to go after opponents.

Obama, of course, did not specify which side is doing this.

"In those circumstances, pluralism does not call for us to just stand back and say, ‘Well, I’m not sure that’s okay,'" he continued.

"In those circumstances, a line has been crossed, and we have to stand firm," Obama concluded.

What is he talking about?

This statement from Obama has come to the surprise of many - but especially to Republicans.

It was the Republicans, including President-Elect Donald Trump, who have been claiming that the Democrats are trying to rig the U.S. election in various ways.

They argue that we saw proof of this during the 2020 presidential election. A simple example would be the way rules were implemented by non-legislative state officials, which would seem to violate the U.S. Constitution's instructions for how elections are to be governed. Another example would be the Democrat's push for widespread mail-in voting.

This is why Obama's remarks are particularly ironic.

As one X user put it:

In what can only be described as a masterclass in projection, Barack Obama took the stage at a so-called "Democracy Forum" to pontificate on the sanctity of democratic principles, only to skew the narrative by accusing Republicans of rigging elections and weaponizing the justice system.