20 November, 2016
US President Obama won’t tell people protesting the election of Donald Trump to be quiet.
“There’s not a president in our history that at some point hasn’t been subject to these protests,” Obama said at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday, noting that protesters have at times railed against him.
“So I would not advise people who feel strongly or are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldn’t advise them to be silent,” he added. Instead, the outgoing president said, “Elections matter, voting matters, organizing matters, being informed on the issues matter,” and encouraged more Americans to get involved in the process. “[D]o not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life,” he cautioned.
Obama scolded Americans who didn’t vote, noting that “In the United States if 43% of eligible voters do not vote, then democracy is weakened.”
- New York Post