Unlike Donald Trump, President Barack Obama does not think that the nation is “on the verge of collapse.” In a fact-checking/criticizing speech on Friday, Obama cited facts and evidence to counter the GOP and Trump’s picture of America as a nation in crisis.
CNN reports that the president blasted the GOP’s and its nominee’s pessimistic view of America at the Republican National Convention during a press conference at the White House,
“This idea that America is somehow on the verge of collapse, this vision of violence and chaos everywhere, doesn’t really jibe with the experience of most people.”
According to President Obama, Trump’s fear-mongering speech about crime and terrorism simply does not line up with the reality of the life in the United States today.
President Obama on the RNC: “I did not watch the convention…I’ve got a lot of stuff to do.” pic.twitter.com/XjfmbMFNNW
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) July 22, 2016
While Trump has claimed, according to CBS News , that America is “in dire straits.” In a dark run-down of America’s problems, he spoke of “poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad.”
Obama, on the other hand, disputed the pessimistic opinions of the GOP that he’d read on the news, and projected a more optimistic view . According to the Washington Post , he said the following.
“I hope people the next morning walked outside and birds were chirping and the sun was out, and this afternoon, people will be watching their kids play in sports teams and go to the swimming pool and folks are going to work and getting ready for the weekend.”
To clear the air after Trump’s dark fear-mongering speech, Obama again made it clear that the fears expressed that the GOP national convention were not all the realistic. He told reporters the following.
“I think it is important, just to be absolutely clear here, that some of the fears that were expressed throughout the week just don’t jibe with the facts.”
Pres. Obama on RNC: “Some of the fears that were expressed throughout the week just don’t jive with the facts.” https://t.co/zLZE4hmIT6
— ABC News (@ABC) July 22, 2016
The president has previously attacked Donald Trump , saying that “he ‘will not’ let Trump’s vision for the future take hold,” according to Politico .
It is further reported that while campaigning for Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton, he said that “his daughter Sasha can tweet, too, [but] that doesn’t meant she should be commander-in-chief.”
President Obama also rejected Trump’s (and the general Republican Party’s) misplaced nostalgia for Reagan-Era America, stating that violent crimes are, in fact, “far lower,” than they were during Ronald Reagan’s term as president, according to CBS News .
Obama further compared himself with Ronald Reagan to counter Trump and the Republican Party by saying that illegal immigration is actually “ lower by two-thirds than it was when Ronald Reagan was president,” as reported by CBS.
President Obama, along with citing facts and projecting a more optimistic view of America, sent the country a message for the upcoming election , according to Politico .
“We’re not going to make good decisions based on fears that don’t have a basis in fact, and that, I think, is something that, I hope all Americans pay attention to.”
Obama’s warning against Trump’s fear-mongering speeches is one that seems to be asking the country to not make decisions based on fear, and, instead, to look at the facts.
Wrapping up on the issue of Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention, Obama said that the arguments — true or false — have been made, and it is up to the American people to choose. The following is according to the Washington Post.
“The Republicans had an opportunity this week to share their vision with the country and emphasized those issues that they thought were important,” Obama said . “And I’m going to let the American people judge how persuasive their arguments were.”
[Photo by David Wilson/ Getty Images]