Obama: ’Nobody is Perfect — Not Even Presidents’

President Barack Obama during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hilla
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

President Barack Obama included an unusual phrase about presidents in his most recent campaign speech for Hillary Clinton.

Just hours after the FBI revealed that it was revisiting the investigation surrounding Hillary Clinton’s private email server, Obama praised Clinton for understanding how to lead the country despite political differences.

During a speech in Orlando, Florida, Obama said, “she understands nobody is perfect — not even presidents.”

The president has largely remained quiet about the investigation, as he prepares to host six more political rallies for Clinton this week.

But he told the audience that all political figures should act on “basic homespun values” like honesty, decency, and generosity.

“That’s what we should expect,” he said.

Obama reminded supporters that he had made his own mistakes during his time as president.

“I will tell you this: I’ve made mistakes during these eight years, and there have been times where we’ve had ups and there’s been times where we’ve had lows,” he said. “But I kept that promise to work for you as hard as I could.”

Obama urged supporters to organize the vote, despite polls that were showing Clinton ahead. He also warned about the “noise” in the election that made it difficult for voters to get the truth.

“The media stories go up and down, and there’s a lot of noise,” he said, “And sometimes it’s hard for folks to sort out what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s true, what’s false, which is why the other guy can just say whatever he wants, right?”

He specifically blamed the Internet for making it harder for people to know about the truth about the election.

“These days, because of the nature of the Internet and social media, sometimes it’s hard to sort out what’s true and what’s false,” he said.

Obama admitted that in 2016, he understood why some people had become cynical during the election and wanted to ignore politics.

“I know there’s a lot of crazy stuff on TV and the even crazier stuff on the Internet,” he said. “But you have the chance right now to reject a divisive, mean-spirited politics that would take us backwards.”

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