Obama reassures young people about 2016 election: ‘Things are going to be okay’
America’s presidential election has inspired political chaos and controversy at home, but President Barack Obama thinks eventually “things are going to be okay.”
Obama delivered his reassuring forecast to a group of 800 young people during a visit to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Tuesday, at a town hall meeting of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative.
“I think sometimes other countries look at our election system and we think, people think, 'Wow, what a mess' — but usually we end up doing okay because the American people are good people,” Obama said, according to POLITICO.
The American presidential race has sparked worry among some foreign critics over presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric and policy positions. But Obama suggested that America’s democracy would enable voters to make “good decisions.”
"The American people are generous, and they're decent, and they're hardworking, and you know, sometimes our politics doesn't express all the goodness of the people,” Obama acknowledged. “But usually, eventually, the voters make good decisions and democracy works, so I'm optimistic we'll get through this period."
“I promise,” Obama said later in his speech, as his listeners laughed and clapped.
The president also interspersed his observations with personal anecdotes of his community service and early public service. During a question and answer session, Obama urged the attendees to study hard and suggested they were “already way ahead” of him.
“I fooled around a lot,” Obama joked. “I was more interested in basketball and girls, and I wasn’t always that serious.”
The remarks were one of Obama’s last in Vietnam — the president traveled shortly thereafter to Japan, where he will visit Hiroshima, the site of the world’s first atomic bombing.
This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 8:57 AM with the headline "Obama reassures young people about 2016 election: ‘Things are going to be okay’."