There wasn’t much for conservatives to like in President Obama’s farewell speech, though it’s not like he had much reason to reach across the aisle.
But any critic of Obama can appreciate the moment he told the crowd to stop booing President-elect Trump.
Crowd boos Obama saying there will be a transfer of power in 10 days https://t.co/2eY9tvjLiM pic.twitter.com/j85EztQqOg— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 11, 2017
“In 10 days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy” Obama began, spurring boos. (Perhaps some booed at the thought of him leaving office without even thinking of Trump.) “No, no, no, no, no. The peaceful transfer of power from one freely-elected president to the next.” At that point, Obama had to pause for what became applause. “I committed to President-elect Trump that my administration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me.” Then, more applause.
Yes, Obama could have gone further out of his way to defend Trump. But instead of egging on the crowd against a man he so vehemently disagrees with, Obama cut the boos off. To do anything else would have made Obama seem like a hypocrite, given that he was talking in the same breath about the peaceful transfer of power. That, at the very least, deserves some credit from conservatives.
Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.
