Subscribe

* indicates required
Okayplayer News

To continue reading

Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

President Obama Delivers Last Press Conference Of 2016

President Obama Delivers Last Press Conference Of 2016

President Obama delivered his final press conference of 2016 today, in which he discussed everything from the accomplishments made during his eight years as president, to passing the role of president to Donald Trump in 2017.

The POTUS first acknowledged a number of economic success him and his team had, including lower unemployment; income growth; a tripling of the stock market; and access to health care for 20 million Americans since he took office in 2009.

From there Obama talked about his meetings with Trump, and how he hopes to have a smooth transition with him. "I think they would be the first to acknowledge that we have done everything we can to make sure that they are successful, as I promised, and that will continue," Obama said.

He also added that he will "always make myself available to [Trump] just as previous presidents made themselves available to me as issues come up."

Obama then addressed Russia's alleged election interference, stating that Russians were responsible for the hacks of Democratic Party emails, but did not affect voting machines or the the election outcome.

"This was not some elaborate, complicated espionage scheme," Obama said before critiquing journalist's handling of covering the emails. He then warned that cyber security will remain a national security threat for the U.S. government and businesses.

"Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia, or others, not to do this to us, because we can do stuff to you," he said, "But it is also important for us to do that in a thoughtful, methodical way. Some of it we do publicly, some of it we will do in a way they know, but not everybody will."

Towards the end of the conference Obama answered a question about his plans post-White House, stating that he wanted to expand the Democratic Party.

"The thing we have to spend the most time on because it's the thing we have the most control over is: How do we make sure we are showing up in places where I think Democratic policies are needed, where they are helping, where they are making a difference."

Check out the press conference below.