An emotional President Obama gave a surprise speech about the Zimmerman trial in the White House briefing room this morning, saying that "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," and refuting the idea that race had nothing to do with the case. Obama called Stand Your Ground laws into question, saying that the case likely would have played out differently if "Trayvon Martin was of age and armed," wondering if "we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman" in the same situation.

As I commented in the original post, which I was updating throughout the press conference and which you can find in its entirety after the jump, this was a remarkable moment. President Obama doesn't often speak publicly without thinking everything through, but here he appeared to be coming up with new thoughts even while he was speaking. Obama discussed profiling, saying that most every African-American man in America, himself included, has "had the experience of being followed when shopping in a store." He suggested that America is failing black boys and teens. He called for "soul searching" as a nation.

Obama did conclude that things as a nation are gradually getting better. He said that his daughters are "better than we are. They're better than we were." He called back to his climactic campaign speech about race when he said that America is a "more perfect union," but not "a perfect union." The appearance was a strong reminder of the ceremonial power of the presidency, as well as a rare moment in which President Obama takes the issue of race in America head-on. Republicans on Twitter are already calling Obama "America's first Racist-in-Chief" because of today's appearance, and conservative bloggers are no doubt publishing posts right now about President Obama launching a race war in America. But this wasn't that kind of speech. This was a very smart, thoughtful man wrestling publicly with an issue that has followed him (and in many ways, defined him) for his entire life. This was an attempt to start a conversation about issues that matter, after a week of nonsense and hate and confusion. It was one of the most powerful, raw, uncensored moments of President Obama's entire public life.

ORIGINAL POST 10:41 PM: President Obama is right now talking about the Zimmerman trial in a surprise appearance at the White House briefing room, and Twitter is repeating soundbites, including this one:


He also reportedly just said "The African American community is looking at this through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away.” I'll put video up of this as soon as it's available. For right now, you might want to follow Matt Viser on Twitter. There's live video at NBC right now, too.

UPDATE 10:51 PM: It's over. I imagine video will be available pretty soon. I picked up on the press conference about halfway through, but the word that keeps going through my head (and that I keep seeing on the internet) is "remarkable." President Obama doesn't often talk about race, and he especially doesn't do so in an unscripted venue. This seemed to be off-the-cuff, and Obama seemed to be forming thoughts as he was speaking, which is especially noteworthy for someone as thoughtful as he has proven to be with public statements in the past. He addressed some real issues of race head-on without offering easy answers, and then he ended on an uplifting note by saying that things are getting better, that his daughters are "better than we are. They're better than we were." He stressed that we're working toward a "more perfect union." Not "a perfect union," but a "more perfect union." I'll probably have more to say when I watch the whole speech, but man. This was really something, a powerful, seemingly impromptu use of the office of the presidency's ceremonial power.