President Barack Obama said Thursday that the government shutdown and near-default inflicted serious damage on “America’s credibility in the world.”
“Some of the same folks who pushed for the shutdown and threatened default claimed their actions were needed to get America back on the right track, to make sure we’re strong,” Obama said while delivering a statement at the White House. “But probably nothing has done more damage to America’s credibility in the world, our standing with other countries, than the spectacle that we’ve seen these past several weeks.”
“It’s encouraged our enemies, it’s emboldened our competitors, and it’s depressed our friends who look to us for steady leadership,” he continued. “Now, the good news is we’ll bounce back from this. We always do. America is the bedrock of the global economy for a reason. We are the indispensable nation that the rest of the world looks to as the safest and most reliable place to invest.”
