President Obama says "talk radio and other venues" who suggest every aspect of the American government is full of "malevolent actors" have made the American public more susceptible to believe foreign 'fake news' propaganda.



"It doesn't seem that far-fetched compared to some of the other stuff folks are hearing from domestic propagandists," he said about 'fake news.'



"Our political dialogue is such that everything is under suspicion, everybody's corrupt and everybody is doing things for partisan reasons," he lamented.



Obama said: "Our vulnerability to Russia --or any other foreign power-- is directly related to how divided, partisan, dysfunctional our political process is."



"So if we want to really reduce foreign influence on our elections, then we better think about how to make sure that our political process, our political dialogue is stronger than it's been."





PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: One way I do believe that the president-elect can approach this that would be unifying, is to say we welcome a bipartisan independent process that gives the American people an assurance not only that votes are counted properly and the elections are fair and free, but that we have learned lessons about how internet propaganda from foreign countries can be released in the political bloodstream, and we have strategies to deal with it in the future.



The more this can be nonpartisan , the better served the American people are going to be. Which is why I made the point earlier, and I'm going to keep on repeating this point, our vulnerability to Russia or any other foreign power is directly related to how divided, partisan, dysfunctional our political process is.



That's the thing that makes us vulnerable.



If fake news that's being released by some foreign government is almost identical to reports that are being issued through partisan news venues, then it's not surprising that that foreign propaganda will have a greater effect.



It doesn't seem that far-fetched compared to some of the other stuff folks are hearing from domestic propagandists.



To the extent that our political dialogue is such that everything is under suspicion, everybody's corrupt and everybody is doing things for partisan reasons, and all of our institutions are, you know full of malevolent actors, and if that's the story that is being put out there, then when a foreign government introduces that same argument, with facts that are made up, voters who have been listening to that stuff for years, who have been getting that stuff every day from talk radio or other venues, they're going to believe it.



So if we want to really reduce foreign influence on our elections, then we better think about how to make sure that our political process, our political dialogue is stronger than it's been.