Holds gun policy town hall
Obama speaks with gun owners at a televised town hall meeting hosted by CNN. The president explained his measures to make legal products safer, akin to child-proof medicine caps, and sought to reassure gun owners that no one was coming for their property. The NRA chose not to participate. The American Firearms Retailers Association was involved with the meeting. On gun registration:
That’s an area where there’s just not enough national consensus at this stage to even consider it. And part of it is is people’s concern that that becomes a prelude to taking people’s guns away…Part of the challenge of this is that the gun debate gets wrapped up in broader debates about whether the federal government is oppressive and there are conspiracy theories floating around the Internet these days all the time.
Huckabee’s comment ‘ridiculous…so sad’
While speaking at a press conference in Ethiopia, Obama speaks about comments on Huckabee’s comments, and others made by GOP leaders and 2016 Presidential candidates.
It would be ridiculous it it weren’t so sad…We’ve had a sitting senator call John Kerry Pontius Pilate. We’ve had a sitting senator, who also happens to be running for president, suggest that I’m the leading state sponsor of terrorism. These are leaders in the Republican Party. Politicians can have serious political differences, but we just don’t fling out ad hominem attacks like that, because it doesn’t help inform the American people. We’re creating a culture that is not conducive to good policy, or good politics. I want to make sure I’m turning over the keys to someone who’s serious about the problems the country faces and the world faces.
Kenya visit tensions
Obama’s push for gay rights in Kenya causes some debate while Kenyatta refuses to change laws involving homosexuality. There are also some tense moments between Obama and Kenyatta over other topics like U.S. aid. Many Kenyans also believe that Obama is not implementing enough American aid programs, whereas Obama does not want other African countries to believe he is playing favorites. Obama:
When you start treating people differently, not because of any harm they’re doing to anybody, but because they are different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode and bad things happen
Kenyatta:
There are some things we must admit we don’t share, [that] our culture, our societies don’t accept. It’s very difficult for us to be able to impose on people that which they themselves do not accept.
Visits Oklahoma federal prison
Obama is first sitting president to visit a federal prison. During his visit he suggests that under different circumstances, he could have been a prison inmate:
When they describe their youth, these are young people who made mistakes that aren’t that different from the mistakes I made, and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made. The difference is that they did not have the kind of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes… That’s what strikes me — there but for the grace of God.
Obama comments on Cosby
In a White House press conference, Obama says:
There’s no precedent for revoking a medal. We don’t have that mechanism…If you give a woman — or a man, for that matter — without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that’s rape.
Defends Iran nuclear deal
President Obama defends the nuclear deal brokered with Iran, at a White House Press Corp meeting, arguing that the only way of assuring Iran not obtain a nuclear weapon is the agreement between the United States, Iran, and five other countries. The deal obtains assurances from Iran to stop and immediately downsize its nuclear program. In exchange, all previous sanctions are lifted.
This is the most vigorous inspection and verification deal that has ever been negotiated. The bottom line is this. This nuclear deal meets the national security interests of the United States and our allies. It prevents the most serious threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon… that’s why this deal makes our country safer and secure.
Vigorous congressional debate on the deal is expected, with some efforts to block it. President Obama promises to veto any attempts to nullify the treaty.
I expect the debate to be robust, and that’s how it should be. This is an important issue. I hope we don’t lose sight of the larger picture — the opportunity that this agreement represents.
