“I want to spend precious time with my girls,” Obama.
Speaking to reporters during his final press conference, outgoing President Barack Obama said that until the United States recognizes merits and give equal opportunities to people from all races and ethnicity, there are chances that it will not only get a woman president but also a Latino, Jewish or a Hindu president in the future.
“I think we’re going to see people of merit rise up from every race, faith, corner of this country. Because that’s America’s strength. If in fact, we continue to keep opportunity open to everybody, then yeah, we’re going to have a woman president. We’re going to have a Latino president. And we’ll have a Jewish president, a Hindu president,” Obama said at a farewell pow-wow with the media.
“I suspect we’ll have a whole bunch of mixed up presidents at some point that nobody really knows what to call them. And that’s fine,” he added amid laughter.
Obama’s remark on the future of US Presidency came after one of the reporters asked whether the country can expect another president like him, citing that the election of Trump was more or less a sentiment against minorities.
Obama in his elaborate reply to the question touched upon the long history of the US in recognizing inequality that once existed in the country and to be more inclusive and minority friendly. He also tried to reason the popular sentiments of people who voted Trump to power.
“There are a whole bunch of folks who voted for the president-elect because they feel forgotten and disenfranchised. They feel as if they’re being looked down on. They feel as if their kids aren’t going to have the same opportunities as they did. You don’t want to have an America in which a very small sliver of people are doing really well, and everybody else is fighting for scraps,” he said.
The final press conference of Obama was abundant with indirect criticism of his successor. While acknowledging the good relationship, he had with the media during his tenure, he told presspersons “”having you in this building has made this place work better. It keeps us honest, it makes us work harder.”
“That does not, of course, mean that I’ve enjoyed every story that you have filed, but that’s the point of this relationship. You’re not supposed to be fans, you’re supposed to be skeptics, you’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You’re … supposed to cast a critical eye and make sure that we are accountable to the people who sent us here, and you have done that,” he said in remarks that contrasted sharply with the outlook of his successor, who has already development a reputation of being a thin-skinned narcissist at war with the press.
When asked what he wants to do after leaving the White House, Obama said: “I want to do some writing. I want to be quiet a little bit and not hear myself talk so darn much. I want to spend precious time with my girls.”
Obama also added that he will continue his public life even though he will not face any more elections and warned that he will speak up again if the core American values are in danger, an indirect dig at President-elect Trump.
Final Press Conference of Barack Obama