Nov 15, 2016:

Speaking at a joint press conference in Greece, President Obama answered questions about the recent U.S. presidential election.

Question:

Thank you, Mr. President. A lot of people in Europe are still struggling to understand what happened on November 8th in the United States. Do you believe it's the exact same dynamic as Brexit, which happened six months before? And does it have to do with leaders struggling to read the mood of their country? Do you have the feeling that, while in power, you underestimated anger or resentment or fear in America?

President Obama's response:

But I do think that there is a common theme that we've seen in a lot of advanced economies and that we've seen around the world, although they manifest themselves in different ways. Globalization, combined with technology, combined with social media and constant information, have disrupted people's lives, sometimes in very concrete ways -- a manufacturing plant closes and suddenly an entire town no longer has what was the primary source of employment -- but also psychologically. People are less certain of their national identities or their place in the world. It starts looking different and disoriented.

And there is no doubt that that has produced populist movements, both from the left and the right, in many countries in Europe. When you see a Donald Trump and a Bernie Sanders -- very unconventional candidates -- have considerable success, then obviously there's something there that's being tapped into. A suspicion of globalization, a desire to rein in its excesses, a suspicion of elites and governing institutions that people feel may not be responsive to their immediate needs. And that sometimes gets wrapped up in issues of ethnic identity or religious identity or cultural identity. And that can be a volatile mix.

I was also aware of it [anger or frustration in the American population] because of the fact that you've seen some of the rhetoric among public and elected officials and activists and media -- some of it pretty troubling and not necessarily connected to facts, but being used effectively to mobilize people. And obviously President-elect Trump tapped into that particular strain within the Republican Party and then was able to broaden that enough and get enough votes to win the election.

The lesson I draw -- and I think people can draw a lot of lessons, but maybe one that cuts across countries is we have to deal with issues like inequality. We have to deal with issues of economic dislocation. We have to deal with people's fears that their children won't do as well as they have. The more aggressively and effectively we deal with those issues, the less those fears may channel themselves into counterproductive approaches that pit people against each other.

Question:

Mr. President, ever since the election there have been protests on the streets of the United States. And earlier this year, Matt Lauer asked you if you believed you helped create the environment for Donald Trump to run. And you answered, talk to me if he wins about how responsible I feel about it. I wonder, do you feel any responsibility for the election of Donald Trump? And in the broader context, when you see his election, when you look at politicians like Theresa May, Marine Le Pen, do you believe that it is either a movement away from or an outright rejection of your world view?

President Obama's response:

Well, first of all, I think it's fair to say that I was surprised by the election results, and I've said so. I still don't feel responsible for what the President-elect says or does. But I do feel a responsibility as President of the United States to make sure that I facilitate a good transition and I present to him as well as the American people my best thinking, my best ideas about how you move the country forward, to speak out with respect to areas where I think the Republican Party is wrong, but to pledge to work with them on those things that I think will advance the causes of security and prosperity and justice and inclusiveness in America.

I think it's important not to start drawing parallels, for example, between Theresa May -- a fairly traditional conservative politician, who is now prime minister -- and Le Pen in France. Those aren't the same, and the situation in each country is different.

I do think, as I've said before, that history doesn't move in a straight line. It zigs and zags and sometimes goes forward and sometimes moves back, sideways. I think at times of significant stress, people are going to be looking for something -- and they don't always know exactly what it is that they're looking for -- and they may opt for change even if they're not entirely confident what that change will bring.

As you know, throughout my presidency, I'm sure as a matter of convenience, I generally haven't paid a lot of attention to the polls. But since your question is directly related to the notion of a rejection of my world view, last I checked a pretty healthy majority of the American people agree with my world view on a whole bunch of things. And I know that that begs the question, well, how is it that somebody who appears to have a very different world view just got elected? As I said, sometimes people just feel as if we want to try something to see if we can shake things up. And that, I suspect, was a significant phenomenon.

I do believe, separate and apart from any particular election or movement, that we are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an "us" and a "them." And I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is going to be defined by what we have in common as opposed to those things that separate us and ultimately lead us into conflict.

Take Europe. We know what happens when Europeans start dividing themselves up, and emphasizing their differences, and seeing a competition between various countries in a zero-sum way. The 20th century was a bloodbath. And for all the frustrations and failures of the project to unify Europe, the last five decades have been periods of unprecedented peace, growth and prosperity in Europe.

In the United States, we know what happens when we start dividing ourselves along lines of race or religion or ethnicity. It's dangerous. Not just for the minority groups that are subjected to that kind of discrimination or, in some cases in the past, violence, but because we then don't realize our potential as a country when we're preventing blacks or Latinos or Asians or gays or women from fully participating in the project of building American life.

So my vision is right on that issue. And it may not always win the day in the short term in any particular political circumstance, but I'm confident it will win the day over the long term. Because societies in which we are able to unify ourselves around values and ideals and character, and how we treat each other, and cooperation and innovation ultimately are going to be more successful than societies that don't. That's my strong belief. And I think I've got pretty good evidence to prove it.

Source:

Obama, Barack. (November 15, 2016). "Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece in Joint Press Conference". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2016-11-16.