President Obama only has two months left in his presidency, and he’s opening up about his legacy and what comes next for the First Family.
That was pretty much the topic at hand when he finally sat down with host and commentator Bill Maher Friday for an extensive interview that touched on religion, marijuana legalization, “food purity,” socialism, Donald Trump and more.
The two also spent a majority of their discussion on the political media landscape today.
“I think the question I’d have when it comes to the media is, ‘How do we create a space where the truth gets eyeballs and is entertaining,’ and we can build a common conversation…You’ve got 800 stations, you have all these websites, and people have difficulty sorting out what’s true.”
They also discussed that with change, a lot of the onus has to come from the people themselves.
“Even a pretty capable, well-meaning president is going to only be able to take the country so far without people, ordinary folks all across the country, being engaged, being involved, being active,” Obama said.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news
But he also recognizes their limitations as citizens.
“People are busy, people are stressed. They don’t have the time to follow the intricacies of some debate around Medicare and what’s going on in Syria. When I say I want a government as good as the American people, what I mean by that is that I think people’s instincts – their gut, what they want out of life, how they want to see people treated – is pretty good. The question then becomes how do we get enough information in front of them to be able to make good decisions.”
“If I could sit in the living room with every person in America, I’ve got the majority on my side, and a healthy majority on my side. The problem is, we’ve got all these filters,” Obama added.
“Look, if I watched Fox News, I probably wouldn’t vote for me either. Because you’ve got this screen, this funhouse mirror, through which people are receiving their information. How to break through that is a real challenge.”