Former President Barack Obama indicated that he is not going to just fade away or stay silent even though he’s no longer in the Oval Office. His office released a statement Monday praising anti-Trump protesters and saying that Obama “fundamentally disagrees” with Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees.
Obama on protests: American values are at stake
“All Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy.”
Photo by Darren Hauck/Getty Images
The full text, attributed to spokesperson Kevin Lewis, reads:
President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. 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.
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.
With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve hard before, the President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith.
It is unusual for a former president to be active in ongoing political debates, but it’s also extremely unusual for a former president to be both considerably younger and considerably more popular than the incumbent president.
Obama’s first act upon leaving office was to take a vacation, but we see a clear indication here that he wants to at least try to see if he can move the needle on issues that are important to him by speaking publicly.
Watch: Donald Trump’s executive order, explained
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