Obama Did Not Say Trump Once During His Chicago Address

During his first post-presidency public appearance in Chicago, Illinois, former President Barack Obama did not once refer by name to President Donald Trump.

“What’s been going on while I’ve been gone?” Obama joked when he took the stage, according to USA Today.

The town-hall-type event on April 24 at the University of Chicago was focused on encouraging young people to be more civically engaged. Obama, as presidents have done before him, did not criticize Trump during his speech. For example, when Obama took office, George W. Bush did not critique the early days of his presidency, stating he “deserves my silence.”

During the event, Obama did express concern that the current political environment is alienating Americans. But he did so without targeting Trump directly, even though the president has made accusations against him since taking office. One such instance was to accuse Obama of wiretapping him during his campaign. Another occurred when he suggested Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, may have broken the law in order to learn the identities of Trump associates involved in surveillance of foreign officials by spy agencies in the United States.

What Obama did do during the forum was question panelists about their ideas on how to get other young Americans more engaged in politics and shaping policy.

He said that the beginning of his life post-White House would be to work with young people “to take up the baton and take their crack at changing the world.”

“The one thing that I’m absolutely convinced of is that, yes we confront a whole range of challenges,” Obama said, noting such issues as climate change and criminal justice reform. “All those issues are serious and daunting, but they are not insoluble. What is preventing us from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our politics and our civil life.”

Obama’s first public appearance took place just as Trump is nearing his 100th day in office. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, Trump has an approval rating of 42 percent, the lowest recorded of any president at this stage of his term in office since Dwight Eisenhower. The president’s disapproval rating is 53 percent.

But, his approval rating among those who voted for him is at 94 percent, and only two percent said they regret casting a ballot for Trump.

When Obama first took office in 2008, he had an approval rating of 69 percent and a disapproval rating of 26 percent.

In terms of Trump’s performance as president, 43 percent of poll respondents said they strongly disapprove of it.

Sources: USA Today, The Washington Post / Photo credit: Marc Nozell/Flickr