Barack Obama: “Washington should be in the business of trying to figure out what we can do to actually make it easier for the private…”

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.

I think when we act on that basis, it doesn't always work out, but over time things do get better.

It is a decision about how do we face and embrace this finite amount of time we have on the planet.

A drift towards extremism was "not inevitable