“I’ve been the subject of protests during the course of my eight years,” Obama said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.
“And I suspect that there’s not a president in our history that hasn’t been subject to these protests. So, I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldn’t advise them to be silent,” Obama noted, according to Politico.
Trump and his allies have lashed out at the protesters that have surged across the nation, accusing them of being paid demonstrators ginned up by the media.
But Obama said on Thursday that the principle of free speech is a core tenet that must be respected.
The president’s remarks were his most extensive yet on the protests that have broken out in cities across the United States since Trump’s election, including in Los Angeles, New York, Portland and Washington, D.C.
