Former President Barack Obama made a direct plea to young men not to be frustrated by the slow pace of political progress when he made the case for supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the first episode of a new podcast presented by NBA- players.

“A lot of young people — a lot of young men — get frustrated and say, ‘Well, nothing happened,’” Obama told NBA All-Star Tyrese Halliburton, 24, and producer Tommy Alter. in a clip first shared with NBC News. “But let’s just say, when I was president, I didn’t cure racism, I didn’t eradicate poverty. Only 50 million people had health insurance. That never happened before and that has saved lives and made people’s lives better.”

Obama added that the reason to vote is so that there is someone “who can see you, knows your life, cares about you,” who will make “a million decisions” that will hopefully “make your life a little bit better every year . ”

The podcast “The Young Man and the Three” is a rebrand of a show called “The Old Man and the Three,” which had over a million YouTube subscribers, with an overwhelmingly young and male audience.

Obama also pointed to his administration’s efforts to change the way non-violent drug cases are prosecuted federally, saying, “During my presidency, crime fell, and at the same time, the number of people in federal prisons fell. It didn’t solve the criminal bias or racial bias in the criminal justice system, but it did make it better.”

Framing the election as “one of these moments where we have to decide who we are as a country,” Obama referenced issues like health care, the minimum wage, civil rights and policing, warning that they are all on the ballot. .

“I don’t think it’s a secret that I don’t think Donald Trump is someone who is going to work hard for ordinary people,” he said. “I think his agenda is essentially about himself. His status is ego and self-promotion.”

Harris has stepped up efforts to earn the support of black and Latino men, releasing demographically specific policy proposals in recent weeks. Harris appeared this month on the “All the Smoke” podcast, hosted by former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.

Obama has been an important part of this strategy. Although polls show him viewed favorably by a majority of voters in key swing states, he was criticized for “scolding” black men during a stop in Pittsburgh this month when he said he believes some “are dealing with all kinds of ideas come’. of reasons and excuses” for not participating in the elections because they “just don’t like the idea of ​​having a woman as president.”

“One of the things that is a challenge for this younger generation, including, I would almost say especially, young men – and young men of color – is that you have all grown up, you were still in school when I was president and the financial crisis has hit,” Obama said on the podcast, also mentioning the Covid pandemic.

“A lot of young men come out of school these days feeling like it’s going to be hard for me to match what my parents accomplished, you know? The factories are closed, or many of the jobs that used to be available if you didn’t have a college degree are no longer there,” he continued. “But you know, what I always try to explain to people is that politics is not going to solve all the problems at once.”

Obama has stormed the battlegrounds for the Democratic ticket, teaming up with his vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in Madison, Wisconsin, and separately with rapper Eminen in Detroit on Tuesday. Obama will meet with Harris in Georgia for the first time this cycle on Thursday.