Montage: 11 Times Obama Talked Down the U.S. in His Final U.N. Address
In America, we’ve ‘made our share of mistakes’
[Originally published September 19, 2016]
In his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama laid out what he views as his foreign policy legacy -- and in so doing, highlighted how America itself still has much work to do. Specifically, Obama found 11 separate opportunities to talk down his own country.
Here are some of the ways Obama told the United Nations America is falling short:
- In America, there's too much money in politics.
- There's also too much "entrenched partisanship."
- Too few Americans are civically engaged.
- A "patchwork of laws" in America set out to make it hard for Americans to vote.
- Considering our founding ideals, America has made “our share of mistakes over these last 25 years.”
- The only way the world will become more secure is for powerful nations like America to “accept constraints.”
- For believing that all countries must adhere to certain "international norms," many Americans criticize Obama.
- Too many in Washington believe all of the problems in the world can be solved by Washington.
- As president, he's helped "curb" America’s “excesses of capitalism.”
- America has “undermined unions,” which has destroyed manufacturing jobs.
- In calling for greater respect and tolerance, Obama also likened racial discrimination in the U.S. to ethnic discrimination in Burundi and and religious discrimination in Burma.