President Obama used a commencement speech at Rutgers University on Sunday to lob implicit criticisms at the presumptive Republican nominee, inveighing against policies and attitudes that clearly reflect those of Donald Trump.
Obama, who also accepted an honorary doctorate from the university, urged those sporting freshly inked diplomas to avoid a “pull up the drawbridge” mentality. “The world is more interconnected than ever before,” Obama observed. “Building walls won’t change that.”
He told the crowd that the United States became the envy of the world by welcoming all who wanted to better their lives, themselves and society. “That’s how we became America; why would we want to stop it now?” Obama asked.
Trump has famously promised, as the centerpiece of his campaign, to build a wall to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico.
Obama encouraged graduates to reject the culture of low-brow politics, another apparent reference to Trump.
“Facts, evidence, reason, logic, an understanding of science — these are good things,” Obama emphasized. “These are qualities you want in people making policy” and in the citizenry. “That might seem obvious,” he trailed off.
“In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue,” he stressed. “It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about. That’s not ‘keeping it real’ or ‘telling it like it is.’ It’s not challenging political correctness,” he said. “That’s just not knowing what you’re talking about.”
Nevertheless, while bemoaning “anti-intellectualism,” Obama also poked fun at those who think themselves intellectually superior because of their educations.
“There are a whole lot of folks who are book smart but have no common sense,” he laughed. “That is true.”
The president, who ran as the candidate of “change,” asserted yesterday isn’t as good as it looks in the mirror.
“When you hear someone yearn for the ‘good old days,’ take it with a grain of salt,” he told the class of 2016 at the nation’s twelfth-oldest college.
People always talk about an “imaginary past when everything worked, the economy hummed, and every politician was wise and every child was well mannered and America could do basically whatever it wanted,” Obama said. “Guess what?” he challenged. “It wasn’t so. The good old days weren’t so good.”
Obama also scolded younger Americans for not participating in elections, noting their lower voting rates. “Have faith in democracy,” he implored. “I know it’s not always pretty; really, I know. I’ve been living it. But it is how, bit by bit, generation by generation, we have made progress in this nation.”
Obama repeated a command he often makes to students — debate is healthy.
Noting that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to deliver Rutgers’ 2014 commencement speech in the wake of student protests, Obama praised true academic freedom.
“Not hearing from a former secretary of state or shutting out what she had to say, I believe that is misguided,” he said, encouraging students to engage in open and civil debate.
Obama said Americans who disagree should sit down and discuss their views and make one another defend their positions.
“You will deal occasionally with foolish people,” in life, Obama advised them.
