--- title: Obama Slams Donald Trump in Rutgers Graduation Speech description: President Barack Obama on Sunday indirectly slammed Donald Trump during his commencement address at Rutgers University in New Jersey canonical: https://time.com/4336522/barack-obama-donald-trump-rutgers-university-speech/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-15T18:43:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:51.031Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Targets Donald Trump in Rutgers Graduation Speech og:description: "In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue" og:url: https://time.com/4336522/barack-obama-donald-trump-rutgers-university-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2ac16260c73fc43/6988933d5f570f7e87b20eea/obama-rutgers-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: President Barack Obama listens during Rutgers University's 250th Anniversary commencement ceremony, on Sunday, May 15, 2016, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Targets Donald Trump in Rutgers Graduation Speech twitter:description: "In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2ac16260c73fc43/6988933d5f570f7e87b20eea/obama-rutgers-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Targets Donald Trump in Rutgers Graduation Speech > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan May 15, 2016 6:43 PM UTC  President Barack Obama listens during Rutgers University's 250th Anniversary commencement ceremony in Piscataway, N.J., on May 15, 2016. President Barack Obama listens during Rutgers University's 250th Anniversary commencement ceremony in Piscataway, N.J., on May 15, 2016. Evan Vucci—AP  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan May 15, 2016 6:43 PM UTC President Barack Obama on Sunday [indirectly slammed Donald Trump](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/at-rutgers-president-obama-rails-against-ignorance-in-politics/) during his commencement address at Rutgers University in New Jersey. The Commander in Chief did not specifically name the presumptive Republican nominee while speaking before the graduating class, but he did mention many of the mogul’s controversial ideas, including temporarily [banning Muslims](http://time.com/4324029/donald-trump-sadiq-khan-muslim-ban-london/?iid=sr-link1) from entering the U.S. and building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “Let me be as clear as I can be: in politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue,” Obama said, according to CBS News. “It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about. That’s not keeping it real or telling it like it is. That’s not challenging political correctness. That’s just not knowing what you’re talking about. And yet we’ve become confused about this.” > [](https://twitter.com/RutgersU/status/731899085934985217) “Isolating or disparaging Muslims, suggesting they should be treated differently when entering this country — that is not just a betrayal of our values, that’s not just a betrayal of who we are, it would alienate the very communities at home and abroad that are our most important partners in the fight against violent extremism,” he added. The President also spoke about the important qualities that the more than 17,000 graduates before him should look for in policymakers, including “facts, evidence, reason, logic.” He noted the dangers of keeping the U.S. isolated from the rest of the globe. “The world is more interconnected than ever before and it’s becoming more connected every day,” Obama added. “Building walls won’t change that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4336522/barack-obama-donald-trump-rutgers-university-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4336522/barack-obama-donald-trump-rutgers-university-speech/"},"headline":"President Obama Targets Donald Trump in Rutgers Graduation Speech","datePublished":"2016-05-15T18:43:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:44:51.031Z","description":"\"In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue\"","url":"https://time.com/4336522/barack-obama-donald-trump-rutgers-university-speech/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2ac16260c73fc43/6988933d5f570f7e87b20eea/obama-rutgers-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2ac16260c73fc43/6988933d5f570f7e87b20eea/obama-rutgers-02.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Barack Obama listens during Rutgers University's 250th Anniversary commencement ceremony, on Sunday, May 15, 2016, in Piscataway, N.J. 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