Obama, who was being interviewed by famed TV producer Shonda Rhimes, spoke of her husband’s administration’s “standard of ethics” and how these days things feel “pretty wide open”. Obama also spoke about what it meant to have a President “who upholds and respects the office” .
Regarding the State of The Union and the Racial Divide in Congress
It’s a feeling of color, almost. On one side of the room, it’s literally gray and white, literally, that’s the color palette on one side of the room. On the other side of the room, there’s yellows and blues and whites and greens, physically there’s a difference in color in the tone. Because one side, all men, all white. On the other side, some women, some people of color. And I look at that and I go, no wonder. No wonder we struggle. No wonder we don’t trust politics. But it’s not just politics.
On Ethics and The Presidency:
It feels like things are pretty wide open. For the last eight years, because we sort of had a standard of ethics, and there were things that we wouldn’t do, you know, so there were a lot of constraints.
There was a certain expectation, so there was a lot we couldn’t do and we didn’t do because of our respect for the position and what it means to the country to actually have a commander in chief who upholds and respects the office. So definitely, life is freer now.
Full Event
