Barack Obama took a swipe at Donald Trump as he delivered a speech in Denmark warning against nationalism.
The former US president said he was worried that politics was rejecting science, expertise and logic in favor of nationalistic and racial views.
Among those in the audience at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) campus in Kolding was Princess Marie of Denmark.
Barack Obama gave off a smirk as he waved at fans outside the University of Southern Denmark
He delivered a speech in which he said he was worried about the rise of nationalism and rejection of science in politics
The republican Q&A with business leaders, entrepreneurs and students after his talk
The Danish royal was pictured smiling and shaking hands with officials as she made her way to her seat.
During his speech, Obama said: ‘I’m concerned enough about the international and American trends that I thought it was important to offer my views.’
‘When you start seeing our politics driven completely free of facts, when you start seeing a debate that is driven solely on racial or nationalistic impulses, when you start seeing a rejection of science and expertise and logic in politics… we are beyond the sort of politics that will continue our best traditions,’ he added.
Relatively discreet since leaving the White House on January 20, 2017, the 44th President of the United States carefully avoided any direct reference to his successor Donald Trump.
‘Maybe we got more jolt and more change than we expected in the US,’ Obama said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
He expressed concern over a lack of citizen engagement in public life and underlined the importance in the United States, Europe, and in other countries ‘to affirm the ideals of our constitution.’
Princess Marie of Denmark was among those in the audience in the municipality of Kolding
The Danish royal was pictured smiling and shaking hands with officials as she made her way inside
Referring to the right-wing populist Law and Justice Party (PiS)’s arrival in power in Poland and the fiercely anti-immigration government in Hungary, Obama said: ‘there is a shift that has implications for all of Europe.’
‘When a population is passive and ill-informed and not paying attention, that’s when there is the greatest danger.’
Former US president Barack Obama leaves after participating in ‘A Conversation with President Barack Obama’ at University of Southern Denmark (SDU) campus in Kolding, Denmark 28 September 2018. The former president Obama will participate in a question and answers (Q&A) at the SDU with business leaders, students and other people.