Obama Urges End to Political Name Calling as Second Term Starts

President Barack Obama urges Americans to reject partisan rancor as he kicks off his second term with a call for national unity.

Published

4 months ago

Categories

US

Topics

US Politics, United States

People

Barack Obama

Places

United States of America, Washington, D.C.

Transcript

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION) President Barack Obama urged Americans on Monday to reject political "absolutism" and partisan rancor as he kicked off his second term with a call for national unity, setting a pragmatic tone for the daunting challenges he faces over the next four years. Obama's ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol was filled with traditional pomp and pageantry, but it was a scaled-back inauguration compared to the historic start of his presidency in 2009 when he swept into office on a mantle of hope and change as America's first black president "We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said as he stood in the wintry cold atop a giant makeshift platform on the Capitol steps overlooking the National Mall.