Obama Asked "Why Do People Hate You?" By Fourth Grader (VIDEO)

At a town hall meeting in New Orleans Thursday, fourth-grader Terrence Scott earnestly asked the question that has probably been on many people's minds as they witnessed the rage that has been directed at Obama these last few months: "why do people hate you?" The young man seemed genuinely concerned as he asked the question, and he went on to tell Obama that "They supposed to love you." Obama responded by giving the young man a hug while saying, "That's what I'm talking about." Then came the hard part of actually answering his question.

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Comments

[Lexi Wynn]

10:11 AM on 12/11/2009

O'bama is one amazing man. God bless him

[wordbluesunlimited]

09:26 PM on 10/19/2009

Public figures will easily attract detractors and captivate supporters­. Some people will love you for who you are; while others will hate you for what you are. But, a leader in high caliber has to be tactful in dealings with people in general. Even when you know your hatemonger­s you still treat them like supporters­, you may pull some to your positive post and win them over totally.

It's funny to see these two four-lette­r emotions creep into human hearts; and, create war against each other daily. Would we mess with anything if we eliminate the spirit of hate and preserve the spirit of LOVE? Taking the initiative to solve the problem begins with every human being.

[go23]

10:34 PM on 10/19/2009

Except for the un-born humans

[knixphan]

11:16 PM on 10/19/2009

eep?

[wordbluesunlimited]

09:17 PM on 10/19/2009

Public figures will easily attract detractors and captivate supporters­. Some people will love you for who you are; while others will hate you for what you are. But, a leader in high caliber has to be tactful in dealings with people in general. Even when you know your hatemonger­s you still treat them like supporters­, you may pull some to your positive post and win them over totally.

It's funny to see these two four-lette­r emotions creep into human hearts; and, create war against each other daily. Would we mess with anything if we eliminate the spirit of hate and preserve the spirit of LOVE? Taking the initiative to solve the problem begins with every human being.

[wilki203]

08:02 PM on 10/19/2009

I honestly was waiting for Glenn Beck to say that this kid was a plant or that he was the product of the children being brainwashe­d... maybe even this is too cute for the loonies to make it scary

[Chloe33]

07:38 PM on 10/19/2009

Very good - and right on cue, kid.

It couldn't really be that some mean citizens actually dislike this prez and his inane policies..­...

[the weave]

07:10 PM on 10/19/2009

I'm all for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream, judging folks by the content of their character, and not by the color of their skin.

It's been said you can tell a lot about a man's character by those he surrounds himself with.

Let's judge the President, Congress, and all people by their character.

[Swampstomper]

01:43 PM on 10/19/2009

President Obama could have said "Timmy, do not confuse people who disagree with me for people who hate me. Many people respect me but do not support my plans for the country. Think about it like this; you want to play football but your friend wants to play basketball­. Does that mean your friend hates you? Of course not. You just disagree. The adults in your life should help you have a better understand­ing of the difference between hate and disagreeme­nt. It would help you as you grow up to be the great person you are meant to be."

[Jmz4gtu]

04:30 PM on 10/19/2009

That would be fine. Except its hard to say that someone comparing you to Hitler simply disagrees with you.

[skialethia]

05:25 PM on 10/19/2009

So when they put a threatenin­g poll on the internet and when they bring weap0ns to rallies they do this because they simply "disagree" with him?

I think not! You can try and sugar-coat the truth, but the truth is there is a lot of hate in some parts of Americana and it ain't pretty and this child sees things as they really are...unfo­rtunately.

These haters should be shamed in a public square.

[Sarahmay57]

01:08 PM on 10/19/2009

The question just breaks my heart.

[katharinewheel]

06:13 PM on 10/19/2009

Mine too. I was so proud of our country when we elected him, and I never imagined how ashamed I could be of so many people in this country now.

[TheCaring1]

09:13 PM on 10/19/2009

Mine too, but it was a great question for a young mind. I'm so proud of both the President'­s responses and the childs question.

[CATNIP1]

09:40 PM on 10/19/2009

Same hear, It brought tears to my eyes and my heart went out to the President. He's done nothing but try to lift up our country after such a bad past 8years. A world wide poll , shows America as being the most admired country, this in such a short time in office for the president.

[go23]

10:37 PM on 10/19/2009

He is remaking the country in his image. Excuse the rest of us if we do not care for it. He is not looking to lift up this country, he is looking to left up himself.

[powder chowder]

12:06 PM on 10/19/2009

spoken like a father and a president.

[Rapier]

11:34 PM on 10/18/2009

People can't really hate someone so willing to compromise except for the irredeemab­le few who still carry the burdens of prejudice. The important question is the opportunit­y missed by this administra­tion as the following commentary discusses eloquently­:

http://oft­hisandthat­.org/Comme­ntary.html

[Luke Moriarty]

11:28 PM on 10/18/2009

Nicely done. Anyone care to imagine Bush or Cheney responding to such a question?

[FORLOMC]

12:26 PM on 10/19/2009

Easy to guess the Cheney response: "So"

[BillyShears]

03:29 PM on 10/19/2009

And then the kid would disappear.­..

[Dham4201]

07:57 PM on 10/19/2009

HAHA 'they just hate our freedoms'

[treadway123]

10:43 PM on 10/18/2009

Because Timmy, they are jelouse,sc­ared, anti-chang­e,anti-bla­ck an plain ignorant.H­e said it right,real­ly!

[go23]

11:09 PM on 10/18/2009

The change he promised and the change he is bringing is more radical than the change most people were looking for. That is the main reason he is not as popular as he once was.

[Jmz4gtu]

04:26 PM on 10/19/2009

What's he doing that's so radical? And, what's he doing that wasn't part of his campaign platform?

I think the main reason Obama is losing support is that
1) He didn't fix the economy overnight.
2) People wanted a radical liberal and got a more pragmatic one.
3) People wanted not-Bush and got a liberal.

[ReportThis]

05:57 PM on 10/19/2009

WHAT are you talkin' about?!?!?­!?!

[PoliticiansRspineless]

08:18 PM on 10/18/2009

Well Timmy, because I have promised so much and delivered so little!

[JMBrodie]

08:48 PM on 10/18/2009

Case in point.

[arod72]

10:10 PM on 10/18/2009

And that's a reason to hate him? How do you explain the haters who hated him from day 1?

[beerent]

01:57 PM on 10/19/2009

If you've been following his approval rating, things have really changed since his election. Those people who "hated" him from day one are not going to change. But, there is a lot of criticism coming from the left these days. Did they morph into haters? Or are they just taking issue with the president'­s performanc­e?

[MikeOptv2]

05:00 PM on 10/18/2009

Fantastic answer given by the President and a very appropriat­e question, I think, from that Fourth Grader.

Just go and get it out there. It's something that needs to be asked, because whether many realize it or not, or whether they are willing to admit it or not, a lot of people hate this man for the wrong reasons.

I hope the media actually covers this question asked by that Fourth Grader, and showcase Obama's response to it.

[45Caliber]

05:16 PM on 10/18/2009

MikeOptv2,

I believe that as parents we should encourage our children to ask questions that concern them. How else can we expect our children to learn if they do not have inquisitiv­e minds and ask questions.

I always taught my son to ask questions over and over again until he gets the correct answer or the answer that satisfies him.

45Caliber

[treadway123]

10:49 PM on 10/18/2009

Send him to fox noise, for all his answers. I'm sure they will be truethful ha ha.

[45Caliber]

02:55 PM on 10/18/2009

Give Barack until the middle of next year possibly around May or June and readdress his successes or failures. Nothing can be determined prior to that amount of time.
I also do not remember us as Americans being so critical of Bush in his 8thn month of his Presidency in the same manner that we are treating Obama.

Obama has brought a new method of politics to Washington and many of the old coots cannot conform with the way he is going about bringing in a change. He is trying to change a group of Politician­s who don't like change let alone how he he preaches about to the country. Our government­, our laws, our country as a whole has been built upon tradition and now people who follow and support this tradition are expected to change? One can only pray that we as Americans and our Politician­s will stop trying to resist the change that he is trying to implement. If we resist, we will be stuck in a process of thinking from that of the 19th and or 20th Century! We should as a Nation open up and embrace it

[ppace60657]

06:32 PM on 10/18/2009

True. By this point in Bush's presidency he had already ignored warnings and let the greatest terrorist attack in our history occur, and no one criticized him at all.

[Polichick66]

10:51 PM on 10/18/2009

If anyone so much as QUESTIONED the Bush admin, they were immediatel­y labelled "unpatriot­ic". How American is that?