President Obama told Vietnamese activists in Hanoi on Tuesday that people like them have made him a better leader.

The courageous work that they do is “important everywhere, including, by the way, in the United States, where there are all sorts of activists and people who are mobilizing, [who] often times are very critical of me and don’t always make my life comfortable but, ultimately, I think it’s a better country and I do a better job as president because I’m subject to that accountability,” Obama said.