Obama was expected to face questions about the hacking and his response during a news conference at the White House on Friday afternoon.
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Obama ticked off a list of his economic milestones including lower unemployment, income growth, a tripling of the stock market and access to health care for 20 million Americans since he took office in 2009.
He was particularly critical of President-elect Trump’s allies who seem to have warmed to Putin.
He dismissed the President-elect’s response as unserious, and encouraged Trump to answer questions about the hacking instead of questioning USA intelligence. The president called the Syrian civil war one of the “hardest issues that I’ve faced as president”, and said the world is “united in horror” about what’s going on there.
She added, “Putin publicly blamed me for the outpouring of outrage by his own people, and that is the direct line between what he said back then and what he did in this election”.
The FBI is supporting the CIA’s conclusion that Russian Federation interfered in the presidential election with the goal of supporting Republican candidate Donald Trump.
“What I can tell you is that the intelligence that I’ve seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack”.
Will Obama still project that same optimism and willingness to work with Trump now?
Obama also said that the “idea that somehow public shaming is going to be effective” in preventing future hacking “doesn’t read the thought process in Russian Federation very well”. US officials have not contended, however, that Trump would have been defeated by Clinton on November 8 if not for Russia’s assistance. But he questioned the media’s role in highlighting the leaked documents that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency argue came from Russian Federation, which played a part in keeping Clinton’s negative rating at record highs. The hacks revealed internal communications of the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Obama also expressed bewilderment over Republican lawmakers and voters alike who now say they approve of Putin, declaring, “Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave”.
Hillary Clinton spoke to a group of donors in Manhattan Thursday and offered them, as an explanation for her loss, two factors. He did, however, chide the media for that he called an “obsession” with the flood of hacked Democratic emails that were made public during the election’s final stretch. “It was a fascinating election”.
White House officials said they were looking to establish a clear message of calm and continuity at a moment of deep concern about Trump’s preparation for the job and his foreign policy priorities. “But it is also important for us to do that in a thoughtful, methodical way”.
Clinton, in a meeting with campaign donors in NY, said the Russian leader had harbored a grudge against her since she said in 2011 that parliamentary elections in Moscow had been rigged. “And we will – at a time and place of our own choosing”.
Obama said he had raised the issue when he met Putin recently in China.
“Most Americans do share a vision of a hopeful, inclusive, big-hearted America”, she said.
“The President-elect indicated his intent, if elected President, to pursue warmer relations with Russian Federation”, he said Tuesday.
Obama noted during his last news conference of 2016 that not much happens in Russian Federation without a nod from Putin.
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To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader. Asked on the way out whether he would have another before leaving office, Obama responded: “I don’t know, I’ll have to reflect on that”.
