AP Photo/Martinez Monsivais
Former President Barack Obama told attendees at a conference in Japan on Sunday that he is looking to shape “a million” young leaders in his image to help the human race.
“If I could do that effectively, then—you know—I would create a hundred or a thousand or a million young Barack Obamas or Michelle Obamas,” Obama told the attendees. “Or, the next group of people who could take that baton in that relay race that is human progress.”
Obama reportedly made the remarks while discussing the Obama Foundation’s efforts to help young people around the world get connected to each other via the Internet.
The former president said that today’s problems are mostly “caused by old men,” and young people such as the organizers of the anti-gun March for Our Lives rally who survived the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, can “create change” to solve those problems.
Obama singled out the student activists in a Saturday tweet, saying he was “so inspired” by the high school students.
Obama also railed against the news and social media for making it easy for people to consume content that reinforces their opinions, and claimed that his foundation would find a way to get people to discuss issues civilly.
The former president was in Japan touting his foundation’s work after making stops in Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.
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