Barack Obama: “This is how we'll be judged: not just by how well we care for our troops in battle, but how we treat them when they come…”

And I will fight for that, even if I don’t always think it’s going to win.

It is a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say.

The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president.

People need to “rediscover what’s the story we tell about how we’re going to live together, and see each other, and recognise each other, and disagree, and yet, still care for each other”.