Former President Barack Obama appeared on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday alongside former First Lady Michelle Obama, where they opened up to Robin Roberts about their legacy after eight years in The White House.
“Look, there’s a lot of stuff I’m proud of. For all the resistance from our political opposition, the Affordable Care Act has now helped 50, 60 million people and continues to help people, even though the current Congress has tried to weaken it and taken away some of the subsidies that were really helping a lot of working people,” Barack shared. “The thing I’m probably the most proud of is the tone we set. I’m very proud of the message we sent to the country that we’re representing everybody.”
“I always used to feel like I was making a mistake a day,” he further admitted. “The thing that we were good at, and allowed me to sleep at night and get up and go back at it, was I always felt that when we made decisions, we were making decisions with the American people in mind.”
The couple’s sit-down interview was taped from their Obama Presidential Center, which is set to open on Thursday with performers such as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Common, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend and Bono, just to name a few.
“People are a little discouraged right now,” Barack noted at one point. “But again, I believe that we go through these cycles and there’s going to be a younger generation that pops up and there are going to be leaders who pop up.”
“People just have to be fed up enough. They have to want more,” Michelle added. “I think the Presidential Center, hopefully, will remind people of just how close we are to moving this country in the direction that we want to move it in.”
The 44th President of the United States held office from January 2009 through January 2017. He was succeeded by President Donald Trump’s first term, followed by his former Vice President Joe Biden and now Trump, again.
“The Obama Legacy: First Interview Post White House” airs Thursday on ABC News Live, before streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
