President Obama admits his administration’s overarching goal of bringing bipartisanship back to Washington will not be achieved by the time he leaves the White House next month.
In a Vice News interview set to air on HBO Friday, Obama was asked about his 2007 promise to change Washington and build consensus if elected, a vow he made from the steps of the Illinois capitol building in Springfield when he declared his Oval Office bid in 2007.
“Well, that didn’t work out. Did it?” Obama responded, laughing. “I could not be prouder of the work my administration has done, but there is no doubt that one of the central goals that I had, which was to make the politics in Washington work better, to reduce the knee-jerk partisanship, to elevate the debate. I haven’t accomplished that.”
The lame-duck president is one of a handful of politicians interviewed in the documentary, titled “A House Divided.” The film looks at the rifts between parties, including the Left’s hold of the executive branch and the Right’s majorities in Congress through much of Obama’s presidency.
Obama recently has appeared recently in a handful of interviews by non-political news outlets as his days in the White House wane.
