Former President Barack Obama has taken a thinly veiled jab at Donald Trump as he accepted a a human rights award.

Mr Obama was honoured as the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope laureate in a ceremony in Manhattan on Wednesday night.

In his speech, the 44th president pleaded with the attendees to hold on to hope and not to succumb to leaders “making up whatever facts they want".

“When our leaders are content on making up whatever facts they want, a lot of people have begun to doubt the notion of common ground,” Mr Obama said, referring to the Trump administration's long history with exaggeration. “Bobby Kennedy’s life reminds us to reject such cynicism.”

Mr Obama urged others to not give into cynicism and find the strength to find hope in times of uncertainty.

“If we summon our best selves, we can inspire others to do the same,” he said. “It’s easy to succumb to cynicism, the notion that hope is a fool’s game.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but I’ve been on this hope kick for a while now,” Mr Obama jokingly added. “Even ran a couple of campaigns on it.”

The Chicago resident joins a long list of impressive awardees. President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U2 Frontman Bono, Democratic Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, former Vice President Joe Biden, and actor Robert De Niro have are just a few who made the list. The award honors global leaders for “their exceptional work toward a more just and peaceful world.”

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In addition to Mr Obama, Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav, Humano CEO Bruce Broussard, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy were honoured as laureates at this year’s ceremony.

Mr Obama, who Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked with birther claims, has condemned the current president several times before. Last month, during a speech at Rice University, the former president excoriated Mr Trump over the ongoing special counsel investigations looking into possible election interference and collusion with Russia.

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"Not only did I not get indicted, nobody in my administration got indicted," Mr Obama said.