Presented By
Secretary of State John Kerry gestures while giving the keynote address during Northeastern University's commencement ceremonies in Boston on May 6, 2016.
Michael Dwyer—AP

Secretary of State John Kerry gave the commencement address at Northeastern University on Friday, describing the graduating class—which he said is the most diverse in the university’s history—as “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare.”

Later in his speech, Kerry appeared to reference Trump’s promise to build a wall along the Mexican border and his “make America great again” campaign slogan.

“I think that everything that we’ve lived and learned tells us that we will never come out on top if we accept advice from soundbite salesmen and carnival barkers who pretend the most powerful country on Earth can remain great by looking inward and hiding behind walls at a time that technology has made that impossible to do and unwise to even attempt,” Kerry said. “The future demands from us something more than a nostalgia for some rose-tinted version of a past that did not really exist in any case.”

Here are Kerry’s full remarks from his speech at the TD Garden in Boston.

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com.

You May Also Like
EDIT POST