News according to metro.co.uk by Adam Smith said the normally tight-lipped former president was describing the importance of protecting democracy at a question and answer session in Chicago.
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Crain’s Chicago Business reported Obama told the Economic Club: ‘We have to tend to this garden of democracy or else things could fall apart quickly.
‘That’s what happened in Germany in the 1930s, which despite the democracy of the Weimar Republic and centuries of high-level cultural and scientific achievements, Adolph Hitler rose to dominate.
‘Sixty million people died. So you’ve got to pay attention.’
Hitler was elected into power in 1933 and then quickly began dismantling democratic institutions to ensure he could rule as a dictator until his death in 1945.
Though Obama did not mention Trump by name it has been widely interpreted in American media as a dig at Trump’s autocratic style and America First agenda.
Fox News and various other right wing news outlets criticised the comments as did Trump supporters on social media.
Obama also told the 1,800 strong audience the world needed America to get involved with problems and should not be isolationist.
He said: ‘Things don’t happen internationally if we don’t put our shoulder to the wheel. No other country has the experience and bandwidth and ideals…If the U.S. doesn’t do it, it’s not going to happen.’
Trump’s America First agenda obviously annoy Obama (Picture: Alex Brandon)
He used the example of the outbreak of the Ebola virus which his government helped subdue through sending nurses and resources to Africa.
Despite being criticised for his own policies against journalists Obama also said he ‘understood the principle that the free press was vital’ in a nod to Trump’s recent complaints about the media.
In a lighter note Obama settled the great Batman vs. Superman debate, telling the audience he believed Batman would prevail in a battle between the two.