Barack Obama: “We can't afford to let the same phony arguments and bad habits of Washington kill financial reform.”

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.

A drift towards extremism was "not inevitable

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”.

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