WASHINGTON — President Obama said Americans need to keep their fears of ISIS “in perspective” and the next president should remember to “not just to shoot, but to aim.”
In a year-end interview with NPR News, Obama accused Donald Trump of “exploiting” the frustration of workers, particularly “blue-collar men,” who are grappling with economic stresses at a time of demographic changes in America.
“I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking advantage of that,” Obama said. “That’s what he’s exploiting during the course of his campaign.”
Presidential polls show terrorism and homeland security are on the top of voters’ minds in the wake of the Paris and San Bernardino terrorists attacks. While he understands the worries, Obama said he’ll spend his final year in office insisting ISIS should not change American values.
“It is also important for us to keep things in perspective, and this is not an organization that can destroy the United States,” Obama said in an interview that will air Monday. “This is not a huge industrial power that can pose great risks to us institutionally or in a systematic way. But they can hurt us, and they can hurt our people our families.”
He added: “The most damage they can do, though, is if they start changing how we live and what our values are. Part of my message over the next 14 months or 13 months that I remain in office is to just make sure that we remember who we are and make sure that our resilience, our values, our unity are maintained. If we do that then ISIL will be defeated.”
The commander-in-chief also praised the international climate deal forged in Paris as an example of American leadership at work. “Keep in mind that the Republican Party in the United States is perhaps literally the only major party in the developed world that is still engaging in climate denial,” Obama said.
You can watch the full news conference here: