US President Barack Obama has said that Republican nominee Donald Trump is “unfit” and “woefully unprepared” to be the next president, and questioned why his party still supports his candidacy.
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“Yes, I think the Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president”, Obama said in response to a question from a reporter during a news conference with Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore. “And he keeps on proving it”, Obama said, pointing to Trump’s criticism of the Khan family and recent missteps on foreign policy. Obama said. “This isn’t a situation where you have an episodic gaffe”.
Obama also called into question Trump’s views on Europe, the Middle East and Asia and the “denunciation of his statements” by leading Republicans such as John McCain.
“There has to come a point at which you say, ‘Enough, ‘” Obama said.
President Barack Obama has issued a powerful repudiation of the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, suggesting in the clearest terms yet that he does not consider him fit to be president.
With both the country’s current president and a sitting Republican member of the House calling Trump “unfit to serve”, many are hoping that others in the GOP will follow suit.
Mr Obama has already endorsed his fellow Democrat and has repeatedly pilloried Mr Trump’s populism.
As polls showed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton taking a wider lead over Trump after her party’s convention last week, GOP supporters from California believe it’s still too early to be concerned.
Trump’s refusal to back Ryan exposed anew the deep divisions within the party and underscored that the businessman rarely plays by the traditional political playbook.
Among registered voters surveyed by CNN following the Democratic convention, 36 percent of Republicans said they would definitely vote for Trump, while 44 percent of Democratic voters said they are solidly behind Clinton.
“America’s greatness is built on the principles of liberty and preserved by the men and women who wear the uniform to defend it”, House Speaker Paul Ryan’s statement read.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has joined Clinton’s campaign, and on Monday he likened Trump to that of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who went after communists in the 1950s. Rep. Mike Coffman, a vulnerable Republican in a competitive Colorado district, said he was “deeply offended when Donald Trump fails to honor the sacrifices of all of our fearless soldiers who were lost in that war”. Congressman Mike Coffman, a vulnerable Republican in a competitive Colorado district, said he was “deeply offended when Trump fails to honor the sacrifices of all of our courageous soldiers who were lost in that war”.
“While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us”, said McCain of Trump’s statements to the Khan family.
In the absence of any formal withdrawal of support, denunciations from Republicans “ring hollow”, he said. “As I have said on numerous occasions, a religious test for entering our country is not reflective of these fundamental values”.
Mr Blunt added: “My advice to Donald Trump has been and will continue to be to focus on jobs and national security and stop responding to every criticism whether it’s from a grieving family or Hillary Clinton”.
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Trump’s remarks about the Khan family prompted Sen.
