LONDON — In an interview with Britain’s Prince Harry, former President Barack Obama warned that people in positions of power should exercise care in their use of social media, while he pointed to healthcare reform as among his proudest achievements.
In his first interview since leaving the White House in January, Obama told listeners to BBC Radio’s flagship morning news program, Today, that the trials and tribulations of life in the public eye were worth the opportunity he was given to effect positive change.
“What an enormous blessing it is to be able to say that 20 million people have health insurance that didn’t have it before. And even a fraction of those 20 million are leading better, healthier lives, are happier, some child is fulfilling their potential,” Obama said. “That’s a pretty good score card.”
Obama also spoke of his last day in office, saying the end of his administration brought a sense of satisfaction “mixed with all the work that was still undone and concerns about how the country moves forward.”
But, he said, “overall there was a serenity there, more than I would have expected.”
The former president’s comments — recorded at the Invictus Games in Canada in September but broadcast on Wednesday — come at a time when Republican lawmakers are continuing to battle to undo his healthcare policies.
Trump boasted on Twitter Tuesday that the GOP tax bill he signed into law last week “essentially repeals” Obama’s signature achievement, citing the bill’s elimination of the individual mandate, which penalized Americans who go without health insurance.
While the mandate is a key component of the Affordable Care Act, the law’s subsidies and regulations are still in effect.
Related: Trump claims Obamacare is ‘repealed,’ as GOP puts off aid to insurers
In the wide ranging interview with Prince Harry, Obama also warned of the dangers of social media. He did not mention his successor by name, but called on people in government to be careful in their use of platforms like Twitter, claiming it was leading people to remain “cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases.”
While he emphasized his commitment to the first amendment, Obama said society needed to find ways to harness technology so that it “doesn’t lead to a ‘Balkanization’ of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground.”
Obama said he didn’t think government could legislate to ensure this happens, but that world leaders should promote commonality online.
“All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet,” he told Harry.
The former U.S. president also paid tribute to his wife, saying his transition out of public life was made easier by the fact that his marriage had been left “intact” and the couple felt they had “preserved our integrity.”
Obama also said he felt that it was easier having come into the public eye in his forties, at a time when he was already grounded and his life had a “continuity” which made leaving office easier.
“When I got off the treadmill it didn’t feel like my identity was wrapped up in having this position,” he said.
The interview was part of Prince Harry’s guest-editorship of the BBC Radio program, in which he also interviewed his father the Prince of Wales.
Last month Prince Harry announced his engagement to American actress Meghan Markle. Speculation as to whether the couple would invite the Obamas swirled this week in anticipation of the interview.
When asked on the program Wednesday whether they would be among the guests at his wedding in May next year, Harry dodged the question. “I don’t know about that … Wouldn’t want to ruin that surprise,” he said.
Related: Meghan Markle engagement to Prince Harry exposes ‘quiet’ racism
Harry knows the Obamas through his organization of the Invictus Games, a competition for wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel.
Harry and the Obamas have made a number of joint appearances including during the Invictus Games in Toronto in September, when Obama and Harry were pictured together at a wheelchair basketball game.
In 2016 Michelle Obama helped Harry kick off that year’s event, calling him “Prince Charming.”
In addition to the more in-depth interview, Harry asked Obama a “lightning round” of questions of the type normally asked of entertainers, not politicians.
The former president declined to say whether he wears boxers or briefs, but was willing to say he prefers Aretha Franklin to Tina Turner — “Aretha is the best,” he said of the Queen of Soul — and favors retired basketball star Michael Jordan over current star LeBron James.