Obama Counter-Terrorism Speech Live Stream: Watch President Speak At Florida's MacDill Air Force Base
President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver his final counter-terrorism speech as commander-in-chief Tuesday, speaking at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. It's expected Obama will argue for the efficacy of his policies ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office, a plea of sorts to the incoming administration that has been highly critical of the Democratic president.
At MacDill, home of the U.S.' Special Operations Command and Central Command, Obama was also expected to make the case for building coalitions with local governments while also focusing on killing leaders of terror groups like the so-called Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
"This represents a more sustainable approach ... one where we had a limited number of U.S. forces on the ground," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said on a call with reporters, via Reuters.
Aides to the president told the news service Obama's speech was not intended as a direct rebuke of Trump. However, Obama's ideas on counter-terrorism are in stark contrast with the hard-line stance of Trump and many the president-elect has nominated to serve in his cabinet.
Trump's pick to be national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, said in August that Islam was a "vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people." Obama has stressed that a small number of extremists do not represent a religion of 1.7 billion people.
Trump, meanwhile, has praised the torture Obama outlawed as well as the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay that Obama promised, and failed, to fully close. And while Obama likely won't directly counter these views Tuesday, he was expected to promote his vision of America, and, in turn, his vision of the world.
"[Obama] will once again be reiterating that our greatest strength against terrorism is who we are as a country, our values, our vision of the world, and also the world that we’ve built as Americans — this international order we’ve built, where we have alliances and institutions and the rule of law," Rhodes said, according to the Guardian.
Obama is scheduled to begin his remarks at 4:10 p.m. EST. You can view the live stream at the White House website or simply watch the feed embedded below.
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