Thread: Obama Rebukes Donald Trump’s Wall in Rutgers Commencement Speech

by BREITBART NEWS
15 May 2016
465 comments

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — President Barack Obama on Sunday urged college graduates to shun those who want to confront a rapidly changing world by building walls around the United States or by embracing ignorance, as he delivered a sharp and barely concealed critique of Donald Trump.

Obama used his commencement speech at Rutgers University to illustrate a world view antithetical to the ideas espoused by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Looking out at a sea of red and black gowns, Obama told the roughly 12,000 graduating students that the pace of change on the planet is accelerating, not subsiding, and that recent history had proved that the toughest challenges cannot be solved in isolation.

“A wall won’t stop that,” Obama said, bringing to mind Trump’s call for building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “The point is, to help ourselves, we’ve got to help others – not pull up the drawbridge and try to keep the world out.”

The president never mentioned Trump by name, but his intended target seemed clear. Repeatedly, Obama referred to disparaging comments about Muslims and immigrants, and opposition to free trade deals. But he appeared most incensed by what he described as a rejection of facts, science and intellectualism that he said was pervading politics.

“In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue,” Obama said. “It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about. That’s not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That’s not challenging political correctness. That’s just not knowing what you’re talking about,” the president said.

“And yet, we’ve become confused about this,” he continued, warning that the rejection of facts and science would lead the U.S. on a path of decline.

Obama’s rebuke came as Trump is close to clinching the GOP nomination, raising the prospect that November’s election could portend a reversal of Obama’s policies and approach to governing. In recent days, Trump has started focusing on the general election while working to unite a fractured Republican Party around his candidacy. Democrats are readying for a fight against a reality TV host they never anticipated would make it this far.

Obama has mostly steered clear as Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders compete for the nomination. But he has used speeches such the Rutgers address to lay out themes that Democrats may ultimately use as they work to deny Trump the White House.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who ran against Trump for the GOP nomination, has since endorsed him and become one of his most vocal surrogates. Christie didn’t attend the president’s speech at Rutgers, instead spending the day at nearby Princeton University for his son’s baseball game in the Ivy League championship.

In his speech, Obama told graduates that when they hear people wax nostalgic about the “good old days” in America, they should “take it with a grain of salt.”

“Guess what? It ain’t so,” the president said, rattling off a list of measures by which life is better in the U.S. than in decades past.

Some 50,000 students and their families packed High Point Solution Stadium for the ceremony, the first at Rutgers to involve a sitting president. The public university’s leaders lobbied the president for years to come to campus for the school’s 250th anniversary.

Sunday’s address was the second of three commencement speeches that Obama will deliver during his final graduation season as president. Earlier in May, Obama echoed similar themes about progress in the U.S. when he spoke at historically black Howard University in Washington. The president will also speak on June 2 at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The university also bestowed an honorary law degree on the president, adding to the half-dozen or so other honorary degrees that the Columbia and Harvard Law School graduate has received.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...cement-speech/

“The point is, to help ourselves, we’ve got to help others – not pull up the drawbridge and try to keep the world out.”

We're not keeping "the world out", we're keeping illegal drugs, criminals and illegal aliens out, because that's our law and the will of the people of the United States.

Un-American - he is the worst! Removal of our borders is un-American, treasonous and impeachable - wake up politicians - do your job.

The main reason Obama has become the most divisive president and politician in this countries history is the repetitive use of executive orders he has enacted. He doesn't want to do the presidents job properly and go through the congress. Obama thinks he knows better than everyone else witnesses by some of the words in his speech today. If you want to deny the existence of laws that directly address the inflow and outflow of illegal immigrants, then just repeal the laws and say what it is that you want the unsuspecting majority of American people to accept as the new law of the land, and that would be to allow the free flow of foreign citizens into this country.

Obama knows he can cut off illegal immigration if he really wanted to and just increase the flow of legal immigration, but it is far to easier to just stand back from the laws of the land that not only protect its borders and entry/exit system, but the safety, health and security of its citizens so they can go about their business and lives without the negative ramifications of illegal immigration. Shame on all the previous presidents who did nothing to secure our borders. I am not against anyone or nation, but I am adament about following the law with respect to this issue and if you want more in this country, bring them in legally and respect the process and people of this nation.

Obama knows he can cut off illegal immigration if he really wanted to and just increase the flow of legal immigration

We don't want or need to increase the flow of legal immigration either. We want a stop to all this immigration, legal and illegal, until there is some reason for it. So, we need a 10 to 20 year Moratorium on All Immigration and we need it yesterday.

VOTE TRUMP!

RYAN'S GOTTA GO!

SCOTT BROWN FOR VP!

You don't need to respond to everything on this website as we. You should learn to speak just for yourself and stop using the word we as if you represent this site or its objective unless of course it is appropriate and relevent. The site is Americans against illegal immigration, not legal immigration. Statements like

We want a stop to all this immigration, legal and illegal, until there is some reason for it.

are very powerful and say a lot more than you might realize. I am sure you know that and it doesn't bother you, but for me it does and if I don't push back then it represents me too and that I don't like.

by ALEX SWOYER
17 May 2016
Washington, DC
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump responded to President Obama’s jab during a commencement speech last weekend at Rutgers University.

Taking to Twitter, Trump posted:

Donald J. Trump ✔ ‎@realDonaldTrump
"In politics, and in life, ignorance is not a virtue." This is a primary reason that President Obama is the worst president in U.S. history!
6:08 PM - 16 May 2016

Without calling Trump out by name, Obama focused on the Republican nominee throughout the graduation speech.

“In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue,” Obama told the graduates. “It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about. That’s not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That’s not challenging political correctness. That’s just not knowing what you’re talking about. And yet we’ve become confused about this.”

“I guess it’s part of human nature — especially in times of change and uncertainty — to want to look backwards and long for some imaginary past when everything worked, and the economy hummed, and all politicians were wise, and every child was well-mannered, and America pretty much did whatever it wanted around the world,” Obama also stated. “Guess what? It ain’t so. The good old days weren’t all that good.”

He also criticized Trump’s proposed temporary ban on Muslim immigration into the United States until a proper vetting process was instituted.

“Isolating or disparaging Muslims, suggesting that they should be treated differently when it comes to entering this country, that is not just a betrayal of our values. That’s not just a betrayal of who we are — it would alienate the very communities at home and abroad who are our most important partners in the fight against extremism,” Obama challenged.

According to CNN, Obama’s criticisms were similar to previous jabs he’s taken toward Trump without naming the real estate mogul.

http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presid...t-u-s-history/