In his first direct remarks following the brutal terrorist attack in Paris, President Barack Obama derided Wednesday morning killings as “cowardly evil attacks,” while reaffirming the standing of the French as one of our chief allies.
Obama made the remarks ahead of French President Francois Hollande’s remarks scheduled for 2 p.m. EST. The president added in his comments that the killings of 10 journalists and two police officers at the offices of Charlie Hebdo as a “terrible terrorist attack,” which the White House echoed earlier in the morning to Fox’s Bill Hemmer.
The president also remarked that this attack was also one on freedom of expression, saying it “is something that can’t be silenced because of the senseless violence of the few.”
“I’ve reached out to President Hollande of France and hope to have the opportunity to talk to him today,” Obama said. “But I thought it was appropriate for me to express my deepest sympathies to the people of Paris and the people of France for the terrible terrorist attack that took place earlier today.”
“I think that all of us recognize that France is one of our oldest allies, our strongest allies,” Obama said. “They have been with us at every moment when we’ve — from 9/11 on, in dealing with some of the terrorist organizations around the world that threaten us.”
“For us to see the kind of cowardly evil attacks that took place today I think reinforces once again why it’s so important for us to stand in solidarity with them, just as they stand in solidarity with us,” the president said pointedly.
“The fact that this was an attack on journalists, attack on our free press, also underscores the degree to which these terrorists fear freedom — of speech and freedom of the press,” Obama said. “But the one thing that I’m very confident about is that the values that we share with the French people, a belief — a universal belief in the freedom of expression, is something that can’t be silenced because of the senseless violence of the few.”