“Wacky” Donald is unfit to be commander in chief, President Obama said. The Democrat has insisted Trump’s controversial positions and comments are a step beyond what previous Republican nominees have embraced in the past.
Advertisement
President Barack Obama warned Thursday against becoming immune to Donald Trump’s more outlandish statements, arguing that the stakes of the U.S. presidential contest were too high for Americans to tune out.
“You actually have to know what you’re talking about and you actually have to have done your homework and when you speak, it should actually reflect thought out policy that you can implement”, he said.
He batted down criticism from Trump that he had been “humiliated” upon landing days earlier in China when the Chinese provided no stairs for Obama to descend from Air Force One.
Throughout the campaign, Mr Obama has repeatedly denounced Mr Trump and deemed him “unfit” to serve as commander in chief, arguing that he’s pulling the Republican Party in a unsafe and unprecedented direction.
Obama has endorsed Hillary Clinton and has said he plans to campaign full-force for her before the November 8 election.
Obama said that he had always been a friend of India and would continue to be a “strong partner of India and help in any way I can”, according to sources. “The most important thing for the public and the press is to just listen to what he says and follow up and ask questions”.
He also invited the US President to visit India after demitting office to which Obama said he would welcome any opportunity to visit India. “I’m very happy that it happened”. Other diplomats who heard the speech, however, felt he was referring to the United States, which colonized the Philippines after defeating its former ruler, Spain.
“There is no doubt that because of the politics in Congress right now, it is a tough road to hoe”, Obama conceded Thursday.
He said: “I don’t take these comments personally because it seems as if this is a phrase he’s used repeatedly including directed at the Pope and others, and so I think it seems to be just a habit – a way of speaking for him”.
However Mr Obama cancelled a meeting with Mr Duterte scheduled for Tuesday because of the outburst.
As an example of progress on the trip, Obama pointed to discussions with Southeast Asian leaders about maritime disputes in the South China Sea and suggested progress had been made in clarifying the path ahead to lower tensions between China and the Philippines.
Also on Thursday, his American counterpart, Barack H. Obama confirmed meeting with Mr. Duterte and even taking up his government’s war on illegal drugs, which has increasingly prompted worldwide concern over the resulting slew of extrajudicial killings.
Obama said both of their governments should work together to advance relations between their two countries.
Advertisement
This is the eighth meeting between Modi and Obama in two years.
