In new comments, President Obama urged Americans to ignore all existing warnings about ISIS threats, and to pretend there is no threat at all over the holiday weekend, saying if any threats were really credible he’d be the one telling Americans about them first.
Obama conceded it was “understandable” that people are worrying, but insisted that there is no credible information of any threat against the US, and that he’d just gotten all of the most up-to-date information before making the statement. to that effect.
Though it’s unsurprising for the White House to try to reassure Americans during such panics, it is strange to see it come so soon after a US State Department travel warning, which cautioned Americans to be careful anywhere and everywhere on the planet, including inside the US.
Obama seems to be explicitly undercutting this warning, and advising Americans that there is no reason for individual Americans to take the threats seriously, since the US government is “taking every possible step.”