President Barack Obama reiterated again Wednesday that he and Donald Trump "could not be more different."
Speaking in Athens, Greece, the president praised the virtues of democracy in the nation credited with inventing it, Politico reports. And he spoke of the value of "free and fair" elections — "even if your candidate doesn't always win.
"We compete hard in campaigns in America and here in Greece, but after the election, democracy depends on a peaceful transition of power, especially when you don't get the results you want," he said.
"And as you may have noticed, the next American president and I could not be more different. We have very different points of view, but American democracy is bigger than any one person.
"And that's why we have a tradition of the outgoing president welcoming the new one in as I did last week. And why, in the coming weeks my administration will do everything we can to support the smoothest transition possible, because that's how democracy has to work."
Politico noted that Obama and Trump met for about 90-minutes following the election and the two leaders have toned down their comments about one another.
The Voice of America reports Obama, in his speech in Greece and earlier on Twitter, strongly emphasized the importance of a "peaceful" transition of power in the U.S.
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