President Obama held a 76-minute discussion at Georgetown University regarding personal responsibility and government assistance.
Posted by The Daily Show: Ears Edition, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The Daily Show: Ears EditionAug 28, 2026
The sources confirm that Obama took part in a poverty discussion at Georgetown University on May 12, 2015, where he stressed personal responsibility and argued against treating government help and personal responsibility as opposites. No source states the 76-minute length; Slate's report of 'about an hour' is consistent with it, so the duration is unconfirmed but not contradicted.
What was said
… Where did that go? And while the President has been addressing those issues his entire presidency, good point. In fact, yesterday President Obama sat down for a 76 minute discussion at Georgetown University, in which he explained all sorts of things about personal responsibility and the debate between government assistance and personal responsibility as being a false choice, and families, etc. A free market is perfectly compatible with also us making investment in good public schools, public universities, investments in public parks. …
The Daily Show: Ears Edition · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The official White House transcript records Obama's remarks at Georgetown University on May 12, 2015, in a poverty conversation moderated by E.J. Dionne.[1][2]
Supports. NPR reports that at Georgetown Obama stressed personal responsibility as one road out of poverty and argued that the role of government and families both matter in the poverty debate.[3][4]
Context. Slate describes Obama participating 'for about an hour' in the Georgetown discussion, which is close to the claimed 76 minutes but does not confirm that exact figure.[5]
Context. The claim's 'yesterday' in the post refers to this May 2015 event; the post is a 2026 repost of older material, and the claim's scope matches the passage.[1]
Sources
5 sources: 2 primary, 3 not rated
- 1Remarks by the President in Conversation on Poverty at Georgetown ...obamawhitehouse.archives.gov · primary source · cited for: supports, context
- 2Obama at Georgetown: Now is the Time to Invest in Helping the Poorgeorgetown.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Obama: We Must 'Guard Against Cynicism' When It Comes ...kuaf.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Obama: We Must 'Guard Against Cynicism' When It Comes To Povertytpr.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Obama Defends 'Respectability Politics' Speeches ...washingtoninformer.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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