Obama Visits Flint, Encourages Residents To Channel Their Anger

President Obama drank from a glass of filtered Flint water on a recent trip to the city, where he intended to survey the damage and offer encouragement.

“I wanted to come here to tell you that I’ve got your back,” Obama said, per The Wall Street Journal.

“Even as he demanded more resources for the city, and decried anti-government politics, Obama dismissed suggestions that Flint's children would be forever stunted after exposure to lead-contaminated water,” CNN reported.

Speaking to parents at a high school gym, Obama did not diminish the disaster, but he also stressed “that the vast majority of Flint children should be free of harm from exposure to lead in the city's drinking water, provided they receive proper medical attention and parental care,” according to the Detroit Free Press.

"You should be angry," Obama said, per CNN. "But channel that anger. You should be hurt, but don't sink into despair. And most of all, do not somehow communicate to our children here in this city that they're going to be saddled with problems for the rest of their lives, because they will not. They'll do just fine."

"Kids rise to the expectations that we set for them," he added.

“I don’t want anyone thinking that all the kids in Flint will have problems,” Obama said, per The Wall Street Journal. “That’s not true. I don’t want that stigma established.”

Officials are urging Flint residents to start drinking tap water again, arguing that it is better for the infrastructure system as a whole.

“Officials want Flint residents — with the exception of pregnant women and children younger than 6 — to move away from bottled water and start drinking filtered water from their taps. They say it's critical to get more water moving in the Flint distribution system to heal the pipes with a new protective phosphate coating. Reduced reliance on bottled water would also increase convenience for Flint residents and ease emergency response logistics, as well as reduce costs,” the Free Press reported.

Since the lead contamination crisis came to light, Flint has updated certain segments of its infrastructure, but residents are still hesitant to drink the water.

“Around 50 lead pipes have been removed in Flint. A further 500 are earmarked for removal, but the city is scratching around for the funding. More than 70,000 other pipes still need to be ripped up,” The Guardian reported. “Residents are wary to accept promises – even from Obama – that the filters work.”