Barack Obama: “You know, when the president said he's going to degrade and destroy this group. You know, it has -- as many as three…”

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.

When we choose, when we make that decision, I do believe – and there is evidence for this – that the world gets incrementally better, and that is a worthy goal and it’s worth fighting for.

The fact that any president, or any administration, is willing to engage in such transparent efforts to intimidate someone should outrage all Americans, regardless of how they feel about Congresswoman Omar’s political views.

Because if this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with her — or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same.