Obama Totally Slammed Donald Trump During His Rutgers Commencement Speech
President Barack Obama gave a speech at the Rutgers University commencement ceremony on Sunday.
His speech touched on many subjects including science and knowledge, talking to people you disagree with and how change gets made.
Obama even took a moment to joke about New Jersey's internal war over whether the best bagel sandwich ingredient in the world is called pork roll or Taylor ham. For the record, this reporter says it's Taylor ham. North Jersey, represent.
But, the overarching theme of Obama's commencement speech was not-so-subtly bashing presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Obama took a Voldemort-esque stance by never once saying Trump's name. But, the policies and phrases he used -- like when he was criticizing "telling it like it is" -- were clearly about Trump.
Throughout his speech, Obama referred to "building walls" a few times. He repeatedly said building walls does not solve problems.
The world is going to continue becoming even more interconnected, Obama said, and "building walls won't change that."
The president also said the United States has to care about other countries if we all want to keep ourselves. For example, overseas conflicts can lead to the creation of terrorist organizations that can threaten us.
He added when developing countries don't have proper healthcare systems, health epidemics can threaten the world.
Obama said,
And a wall won't stop that.
According to Obama, we all need to cooperate with other countries in trade if we want to improve our own economy. Creating international cooperation and encouraging human rights in other countries helps to keep American innovation healthy and raise American wages.
But, Obama said,
Building walls won't do that.
Finally, the president said, discrimination, like isolating Muslim people, hurts America and runs counter to American values.
He explained,
Suggesting that we can build an endless wall along our borders, and blame our challenges on immigrants -- that doesn't just run counter to our history as the world's melting pot; it contradicts the evidence that our growth and our innovation and our dynamism has always been spurred by our ability to attract strivers from every corner of the globe. That's how we became America. Why would we want to stop it now?
When he finished that line, someone from the audience shouted,
Four more years!
Obama just chuckled and said four more years of him as president isn't possible. So, it looks like we're going to have to see how these next six months pan out with Donald Trump as a serious presidential contender.
Citations: Remarks by the President at Commencement Address at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (White House), President Obama hits Trump: Ignorance is not a virtue (Daily Mail), Jersey's Mason-Dixon line: Mapping the Taylor Ham vs. pork roll divide (NJ.com)