President Barack Obama gave his farewell address to the American people on Tuesday night at McCormick Place in Chicago. According to the White House website, the purpose of the speech was to "thank his supporters, celebrate the ways we have changed this country for the better these past eight years, and offer his vision on where we all go from here." POTUS did all that and much more in a moving speech that left many who saw it (and Obama himself) in tears.
Obama spent most of the speech enumerating forces that are "testing our democracy." The first was what he called "stark inequality."
The second threat the president spoke of was racism and racial division. He said that talk of a "post-racial America" after his election was unrealistic. "Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society," he elaborated. "If every economic issue is framed as a struggle between a hard-working white middle class and an undeserving minority, then workers of all shades are going to be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves."
The final peril Obama discussed contained a not-so-subtle subliminal dig at his successor. He said that politics is often "a battle of ideas" among people with different goals. But, he said, a much bigger problem comes when people ignore facts.
The line about "science and reason" seemed to be a warning to Donald Trump, who has publicly denied that climate change exists. Obama took another dig at one of Trump's key positions when, to much applause, he said, "I reject discrimination against Muslim-Americans, who are just as patriotic as we are."
He wound down by calling on Americans to be the "anxious, jealous guardians of our democracy." "[Democracy] needs you," he went on, before landing on what would become (ironically) the most-tweeted lines of the night: "If you're tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try talking with one of them in real life."
The waterworks really opened up, though, when Obama began his round of thank-you's. First, to thunderous applause, he turned to his wife.
He then thanked his daughters ("Of all that I have done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad.") After that came a touching tribute to Joe Biden, who Obama called a "brother." In true Joe Biden fashion, the veep responded with a now-famous finger gun salute.
Obama closed by asking the audience not to believe in him, but themselves. And, of course, he paid tribute to his own most famous slogan.
You can watch the whole speech above.