Oh, well,it was just campaign rhetoric...

Interview on Fox News with Bill O'Reilly, Feb 3, 2014:

O'Reilly: Mr. President: why do you feel it's necessary to fundamentally transform the nation that has afforded you so much opportunity and success?

Obama: I don't think we have to fundamentally transform the nation -

O'Reilly (interrupting): - those are your words -


Indeed they were: Here is Obama speaking at a campaign rally at Columbia, MO, Oct. 30, 2008:


After decades of broken politics in Washington, and eight years of failed policies from George W. Bush, and 21 months of a campaign that's taken us from the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California, we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.
(emphasis added)

(Ref.: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/obama_rallies_columbia_missour.html)