Barack Obama has broken his silence
on his successor’s presidency after only 10 days, issuing a short statement
that attacks Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban.
“The president [Obama] fundamentally
disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of
their faith or religion,” a spokesman for Obama said.
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During his final press conference as
president earlier this month, Obama listed a number of issues that might prompt him
to return to the political fray.
“There’s a difference between [the]
normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I
think our core values may be at stake,” Obama said then. “I put in that
category if I saw systematic discrimination being ratified in some fashion. I
put in that category explicit or functional obstacles to people being able to
vote, to exercise their franchise.
“I put in that category
institutional efforts to silence dissent or the press. And for me at least, I
would put in that category efforts to round up kids who have grown up here and
for all practical purposes are American kids and send them somewhere else, when
they love this country.”
On Monday, spokesman Kevin Lewis
said Obama was “heartened” by the amount of engagement being seen across the
country – presumably a reference to the protests that sprang up over the
weekend against Trump’s executive order. “In his final official speech as
president, he spoke about the important role of citizens and how all Americans
have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy – not just during an
election, but every day,” Lewis said.
“Citizens exercising their
constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their
elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at
stake,” he said.
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