Obama: Pushback against ISIS extremism must 'come from within' Muslim community

In light of the series of deadly terrorist attacks the Islamic State carried out in Paris on Friday night, President Obama cautioned that viewing the group's terrorism as a stereotypically "Muslim problem," would only make it easier for extremists to recruit more people.

However, in the G-20 Summit news conference Monday, Obama also asserted his belief that Muslim leaders should go further in challenging their faith's pockets of extreme ideology, claiming "the most vicious terrorist organizations at the moment" purport to embody Muslim ideals.

"The Muslim community needs to think about how we can make sure that children are not being infected with this twisted notion that somehow they can kill innocent people and that is justified by religion," he said.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Obama asked non-Muslims not to buy into stereotypes about Islam, but also asked Muslims to consider what can be done to stop the small minority of people who identify as Muslim and support extremist ideology — especially in an age when, he argued, social media allows ISIS ideology to spread more quickly than before.

"To some degree, that is something that has to come from within the Muslim community itself," Obama said. "I think there have been times where there has not been enough pushback against extremism."

Watch Obama's full comments below. Julie Kliegman