Obama: Trump and I 'could not be more different'

In a speech extolling the virtues of democracy in the country credited with inventing it, President Barack Obama said the election of Donald Trump as his successor should serve as a reminder of the importance of the governing values cherished by both the United States and Greece.

Speaking in Athens Wednesday, Obama listed out freedoms protected by democracies, including freedom of speech and worship and of the press, along with independent judiciaries and a separation of powers. He told the Greek audience that among those cherished values is “free and fair elections, because citizens must be able to choose their own leaders. Even if your candidate doesn’t always win,” pausing as the crowd chuckled.


“We compete hard in campaigns in America and here in Greece, but after the election, democracy depends on a peaceful transition of power, especially when you don’t get the results you want. And as you may have noticed, the next American president and I could not be more different,” Obama continued. “We have very different points of view, but American democracy is bigger than any one person. And that’s why we have a tradition of the outgoing president welcoming the new one in as I did last week. And why, in the coming weeks my administration will do everything we can to support the smoothest transition possible, because that’s how democracy has to work.”

The president campaigned hard in the closing weeks of the presidential election for Democrat Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state who was favored to win the White House but instead was upset by Trump’s surprising victory. Obama was harshly critical of Trump on the campaign trail, calling him “uniquely unqualified” to be commander in chief, but has since been exceedingly conciliatory towards his successor. The two men met for roughly 90 minutes just two days after the election and the president has spoken relatively warmly of Trump, albeit with a remaining dose of skepticism, since then.

Trump’s victory has prompted protests across the country, especially in urban areas where he was especially unpopular. On college campuses, too, demonstrations have broken out with crowds chanting “not my president.” Obama called on them not to lose faith in the Democratic system that has served America well for 240 years.

“As hard as it can be sometimes, it’s important for young people in particular, who are just now becoming involved in the lives of their countries, to understand that progress follows a winding path,” he said. “Sometimes forward, sometimes back, but as long as we retain our faith in democracy, as long as we retain our faith in the people, as long as we don’t waver from those central principles that ensure a lively, open debate, then our future will be okay. Because it remains the most effective form of government ever devised by man.”