President Obama said Thursday that Donald Trump’s controversial public statements confirm his belief that the GOP nominee is unfit to sit in the Oval Office.
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The summit ended with Laos turning over the chairmanship of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations to Duterte, whose country will host the annual diplomatic gathering next year.
“People start thinking behavior that in normal times we would consider completely unacceptable and outrageous becomes normalized”, Obama.
“Every time he speaks that opinion is confirmed”, Obama said.
He said the leaders had helped create a unified voice against North Korea in the wake of missile launches that stirred further concerns about the North’s nuclear program.
“In the light of the recent reporting on his swearing at US President Barack Obama and the aftermath, he said “…do not hesitate to attack me, criticise me if I do wrong in my job”.
Reflecting on his worldwide trip, the president took an additional dig at Trump’s preparedness for the job, saying “this is serious business and you have to actually know what you’re talking about”.
Mr Duterte, who assumed the presidency in June, has had an uneasy relationship with the U.S., his country’s longtime treaty ally.
Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao issued staunch support for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday after the Asian strongman clashed with United States leader Barack Obama over the country s bloody crime crackdown. The U.S. President says the facility is unnecessary and too expensive to keep open.
He said he told Obama the slur was not directed at him and that he told him so during a brief meeting before the Asean leaders gala dinner in Vientiane on Wednesday.
“I don’t take these comments personally because it seems this is a phrase he’s used repeatedly, including directly at the pope and others, so I think it seems to be a habit”, Obama said Thursday.
Duterte has been in the news because of intemperate remarks he made about President Barack Obama ahead of the summit.
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The awkwardness continued days later when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called Obama a “son of a bitch” and warned Obama not to challenge him in their planned meeting in Laos.
