At the opening of the SuperNova technology festival in Puurs-Sint-Amands (Antwerp) former US president Barack Obama addressed a packed audience for an hour at the weekend. During the interview on entrepreneurship and technology, President Obama made repeated forays into politics. "You could hear a pin drop as the president spoke," VRT’s Tom Van de Weghe says.
Home News
Obama at Belgian technology festival: “Trump is leading us to the abyss"
Published:
Jürgen Ingels, the organiser of technology festival SuperNova interviewed former US president Barack Obama for an hour with the focus on entrepreneurship and leadership.
"Ingels with his background as an entrepreneur was the ideal person to do this job because Obama's entourage absolutely did not want it to be a political conversation. Journalists were not wanted on stage," Tom Van de Weghe notes.
"Obama highlighted the dangers of artificial intelligence, but surprisingly still talked a lot about political current affairs, because of course he remains a politician. He often referred to his 'successor' without even uttering Donald Trump's name."
According to Obama, top politicians and entrepreneurs have a lot in common, including being able to tell a good story. "Some politicians tell a story that appeals to people but doesn't ring true. Obama believes that in that way, Trump plays on Americans' fears. He has been quite clear about that: it's bad and it's leading us to the abyss, he said," Van de Weghe explains.
Improving US-EU relations
President Obama also raised the subject of the tensions between the European Union and the US. "Let’s talk again after the elections," he suggested. The situation will be completely different then. His message: Europe and the US have different interests and perspectives, but can overcome them by recognising those differences, yet by pursuing the same values."
"He also explained that politicians and entrepreneurs share the same drive and that he himself chose politics because it allows him to express his creativity. As a closing message, he conveyed that as an entrepreneur, you should not just pursue your ambitions and money. You should try to add something, to make it a better world."
Quizzed about whether the president preferred Belgian beer to wine, he explained his favourite drink was vodka, a clear reference to President Putin’s ‘special electoral operation’.
Earlier President Obama visited the Magritte Museum in Brussels and met with Filip, King of Belgians.