On November 21, 2007, then presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), appeared on New Hampshire Public Radio and said his being “intimately concerned” with Muslim countries’ futures, coupled with his deep “understand their point of view,” will “ultimately make us safer.”
Partial transcript as follows:
OBAMA: Well, I truly believe that the day I’m inaugurated, not only does the country look at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently. If I’m reaching out to the Muslim world, they understand that I’ve lived in a Muslim country, and I may be a Christian, but I also understand their point of view.
HOST: Although you were a little kid when you lived in Indonesia, right? Is that what you’re talking about?
OBAMA: Well, it’s not just that. My sister is half-Indonesian. I traveled there all the way through my college years. And so I’m intimately concerned with what happens in these countries and the cultures and perspectives that these folks have. And those are powerful tools for us to be able to reach out to the world, and when you combine that with my work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on everything from nuclear proliferation to issues of genocide, then I think that the world will have confidence that I am listening to them and that our future and our security is tied up with our ability to work with other countries in the world. That will ultimately make us safer.
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