Obama
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President Barack Obama urged soldiers during a recent speech to question the authority of the president but many people on social media took this encouragement to attack President-elect Donald Trump. During a speech at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, Obama said that Americans have the freedom to question authority which includes the right to criticize any sitting president.

However, people on social media took the speech and turned it into a story that Obama was specifically telling soldiers to question Trump's authority. Various web sites contained stories with headlines that suggested Obama had urged United States soldiers to question the authority of incoming president Trump.

While Obama did indeed tell troops gathered at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida on Dec. 6, 2016 that they have the right to criticize the president and protest authority, he did not specifically name Trump. Of course, Trump is the country's next president so it is easy for people to assume that means he is seeking people to attack Trump.

As Obama is president until Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, 2017, he presumably could have been referring to himself. But because he said people have the right to criticize "a president" without reprisal, it is likely Obama was referring to the office of the president in general terms. You can read the passage from Obama below.
We're a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted and that each of us has a responsibility to sustain it. The universal right to speak your mind and to protest against authority, to live in a society that's open and free, that can criticize a President without retribution — (applause) — a country where you're judged by the content of your character rather than what you look like, or how you worship, or what your last name is, or where your family came from — that's what separates us from tyrants and terrorists.

Comment: Sowing dissent and encouraging troops to question Trump was likely the intent of his comment.


Of course, Obama's words are pretty vague and described American notions of freedom of speech. While the speech did not appear be aimed at any particular person other than "a president," they could be interpreted as they were in any number of ways, including to mean he was referring to Trump. But again, Obama never directly mentioned Trump in his speech. While it seems more likely the comments were blown out of proportion for maximum outrage value, it is left up to debate for the people.

Here are some examples of people sharing misinformation about Obama's speech.








The transcript of Obama's speech can be read here, or it can be watched in its entirety here:


What did you think of the speech? Did you think Obama was trying to stir up trouble for Trump? Sound off below in the comments section.