Obama denounces religious bigotry in speech celebrating end of slavery

Gregory Korte | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Obama: 'We can create the change we seek' President Obama denounced religious bigotry in a speech celebrating the end of slavery.

WASHINGTON — President Obama did not mention Donald Trump in his speech marking the anniversary of the end of slavery, but he might as well have.

In a speech Wednesday on the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment, Obama called on Americans "to remember that our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others, regardless of where they come from, or what they look like, or what their last name is, or what faith they practice."

Obama emphasized those last five words, which received a standing ovation from a bipartisan crowd in Emancipation Hall.

And while Obama made no mention of a particular religion, the speech comes three days after an Oval Office address on terrorism in which Obama said, "We must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate." The next day, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed a ban on all Muslims entering the United States.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the Obama's remarks were "a consistent part of the president's message to the country" and not inserted into the speech because of the week's events.

But Earnest also said the comparison to Trump was appropriate in the context of the current debate over the connection between Islam and terrorism. "I'm not going to wave you off consideration of the idea that that message stands in quite stark contrast that we hear from a variety of Republican candidates for president," he said.

The previous day, Earnest was not shy about calling out Trump by name, denouncing the billionaire for "vacuous sloganeering," "outright lies" and even "fake hair."

On Wednesday, Obama said Americans "betray the efforts of the past if we fail to push back against bigotry in all its forms.”

Obama spoke to leaders of both political parties, civil rights activists and other dignitaries Wednesday to celebrate the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which went into effect 150 years ago after its ratification by Georgia on Dec. 6, 1865. The Amendment reads, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

"At its heart, the question of slavery was never simply about civil rights. It was about the meaning of America, the kind of country we wanted to be," Obama said.

As he has in past civil rights speeches, Obama noted the incomplete work on ensuring legal equality for all Americans while also acknowledging that progress has been made. "The scars of our nation's original sin are still with us today," he said.