Obama Annihilates Trump’s Proposed Muslim Ban With Pure Powerful Presidential Eloquence

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:39 pm

President Obama’s rebuttal to Donald Trump’s proposed Muslim ban was a speech of pure greatness that demonstrated the difference between a cowardly demagogue and the true leader of the free world.
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The President said:

And that’s what we celebrate today. The long arc of progress. Progress that is never assured, never guaranteed, but always possible, always there to be earned — no matter how stuck we might seem sometimes. No matter how divided or despairing we may appear. No matter what ugliness may bubble up. Progress, so long as we’re willing to push for it; so long as we’re willing to reach for each other.

We would do a disservice to those warriors of justice — Tubman, and Douglass, and Lincoln, and King — were we to deny that the scars of our nation’s original sin are still with us today. We condemn ourselves to shackles once more if we fail to answer those who wonder if they’re truly equals in their communities, or in their justice systems, or in a job interview. We betray the efforts of the past if we fail to push back against bigotry in all its forms.

But we betray our most noble past as well if we were to deny the possibility of movement, the possibility of progress; if we were to let cynicism consume us and fear overwhelm us. If we lost hope. For however slow, however incomplete, however harshly, loudly, rudely challenged at each point along our journey, in America, we can create the change that we seek. All it requires is that our generation be willing to do what those who came before us have done: To rise above the cynicism and rise above the fear, to hold fast to our values, to see ourselves in each other, to cherish dignity and opportunity not just for our own children but for somebody else’s child. To remember that our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others — regardless of what they look like or where they come from or what their last name is or what faith they practice. To be honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. To nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth. To nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of Earth. That is our choice. Today, we affirm hope.

An election that was thought to be dull is offering America a profound choice. The path that President Obama laid out today is one that is full of hope and consistent with our values as a nation. The choice that Donald Trump is offering is one based on giving into our fears and taking the coward’s way out.

Much has been said about Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, but no one has made the case against Trump as powerfully and eloquently as President Obama did. This president has given more than a few speeches that deserve to be required reading for future generations, but his speech today was one of historical greatness.

No one would blame Barack Obama if he lost hope after the way that his critics have treated him during his presidency, but Obama has gone in the opposite direction. The uglier his critics got, the more he stressed hope. President Obama has never lost hope in the greatness of America.

Obama destroyed Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims, and in the process demonstrated the character of a true leader.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association