Angela Merkel Jabs Trump in Harvard Commencement Speech

Brut America

Speaking at Harvard University, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's advice to graduates to "tear down walls" wasn't her only subtle swipe at President Donald Trump.

Transcript

00:00It is important that we do not call lies truths and do not call truths lies.

00:16But what, dear graduates, could you, what could prevent us from doing that?

00:22Again it is walls, walls in the heads of ignorance and narrow-mindedness.

00:28They run between members of a family, as well as between social groups, skin colors, peoples, religions.

00:36I wish that we tear down these walls.

00:40Walls that keep preventing us from understanding the world we want to live in together.

00:48Whether it succeeds is up to us.

00:50Therefore, dear graduates, my fourth thought.

00:53Remember, nothing is self-evident.

00:56Our individual freedoms are not self-evident.

00:59Democracy is not self-evident.

01:01Peace is not self-evident.

01:03And prosperity is not self-evident.

01:05But if we tear down the walls that hold us together,

01:08if we go into the open and dare to start anew,

01:11then everything is possible.

01:13Walls can collapse.

01:15Dictatorships can disappear.

01:17I want to leave this wish with you.

01:21Tear down walls of ignorance and narrow-mindedness,

01:25for nothing has to stay as it is.

01:28Surprise yourself with what is possible.

01:33Remember that openness always involves risks.

01:38Letting go of the old is part of the new beginning.

01:42And above all, nothing can be taken for granted.

01:47Everything is possible.

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