President Obama is worried about the tone of American politics.
In his weekly address, Obama said harsh rhetoric has worsened since he took office in 2009 and could push good people away from office. In an apparent reference to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, Obama expressed concern that more extreme voices will fill the void.
“They’ll be the ones who gain control over decisions that could send a young soldier to war, or allow another economic crisis, or roll back the rights that generations of Americans have fought to secure,” he said.
Obama said there are steps the country can take to limit those extreme voices and improve American politics. Reducing money in politics, changing the way congressional districts are drawn and simply treating others better would help improve the way the country’s government operates, he said.
The speech was filmed in the Illinois State Senate in Springfield, Ill., the spot where Obama announced he was running for president in 2007. He said his experience as president has not beat out his optimism.
“Nine years after I first announced for this office, I still believe in a politics of hope,” he said. “And, for all the challenges of a changing world, for all the imperfections of our democracy, choosing a politics of hope is something that’s entirely up to each of us.”
