A resurfaced clip of former President Barack Obama's last White House press conference has gone viral on social media this week, with many people comparing it to the farewell speech made by Donald Trump following Joe Biden's inauguration.
According to Indy100, the clip in question first aired back in January of 2017 and was posted on Twitter by Howard Mortman, the communications director of C-SPAN.
Take a look at the video of Obama's speech:The video, which has been viewed on Twitter more than 1.5 million times as of the time of writing, shows former President Obama’s final press conference before his leaving office, and thanking the press for their coverage of his two-term administration.
Per The Independent, Obama states to the assembled reporters and journalists:
"You’re not supposed to be sycophants, you're supposed to be skeptics. You’re supposed to ask me tough questions. You're not supposed to be complimentary, but you're supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power."
On Twitter, a number of social media users have shared the clip and applauded Obama's humble attitude:
Compare Obama's words to Donald Trump's farewell speech in the video below:In contrast, Donald Trump's prerecorded speech, which was shared on Twitter on January 19, appeared to be a lot more self-congratulatory. In it, Trump stated:
"We did what we came here to do - and so much more. I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices - because that's what you elected me to do."
"We proudly leave the next administration with the strongest and most robust border security measures ever put into place… with more than 450 miles of [a] powerful new wall."
"I am especially proud to be the first president in decades who has started no new wars."
Trump was also perceived by many as being hostile towards journalists and the press, and back in November was heckled by news reporters after ending a press conference with no questions.
For instance, CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, yelled out: "Mr. President, are you being a sore loser!?"
Meanwhile, Playboy correspondent Bryan Karem shouted: "You lost the election! When will you admit you lost the election? When will you admit you lost the election?"
Per News.com.au, Vice President Mike Pence experienced similar heckling from journalists in a press conference, which was held back on Thursday, November 19 2021, in which he also declined to answer the questions of reporters.
In the video above, reporters can be heard shouting out to Pence: "You're all undermining the democratic election!" and "What is going on?" and "Why is the federal government not taking questions?"
