Photo: Reuters
President
Barack Obama today snuffed out a brewing narrative that his presidency
produced Donald Trump's candidacy for the White House and popularity
"I didn't invite questions about my birth certificate"
'I
have been blamed by Republicans for a lot of things, but being blamed
for their primaries and who they're selecting for their party is novel'
Read the story after cut ....
Read the story after cut ....
'Obama said the 'circus' this election cycle is not his fault - he has 'not contributed to' the tone of the political discourse of the GOP primary. I wasn't the one to prompt questions about my birth certificate,' he said. 'I don't remember saying, "Hey, why don't you ask me about that" '
The topic of Trump and the Republicans came up as Obama held a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau joked the other day that Americans fleeing Trump's America could come to to Canada but played the statesman today. Obama likewise refused to pick a side in his party's primary'
President Barack Obama today snuffed
out a brewing narrative that his presidency produced Donald Trump's
candidacy for the White House and popularity.
'I have been blamed by Republicans for a
lot of things, but being blamed for their primaries and who they're
selecting for their party is novel,' he said today at a press
conference, busting out into a grin.
Obama said he is not responsible for
the 'Republican crack up' and 'circus' this election cycle and said he
has 'not contributed to' the tone of the political discourse in the
other party's presidential primary.
'I don't think that I was the one to
prompt questions about my birth certificate, for example,' he said. 'I
don't remember saying, "Hey, why don't you ask me about that." '
Obama
asserted that he us not responsible for the 'Republican crack up' and
'circus' this election cycle and said he has 'not contributed to' the
tone of the political discourse in the other party's presidential
primary
The
president is spending the day with Canadian Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, who has joked that Americans are free to come to Canada if
Trump wins the White House
Nor did he invite questions, he said,
about 'whether I'm American, or whether I am loyal, whether I have
America's best interests at heart.'
'Those aren't things that were prompted by any actions of mine.'
'And so what you're seeing within the
Republican Party, to some degree is all those efforts, over a course of
time, creating an environment where somebody like a Donald Trump an
thrive.'
Obama said again today that he does
'regret the degree to which polarization and the nasty tone of our
politics had accelerated rather than waned' under his presidency and
has done 'soul-searching' about what he could be doing better to unify
the country.
But, he said, 'Objectively, it's fair
to say that the Republican political elites and many of the information
outlets...have been feeding the Republican base for the last seven
years a notion that everything I do is to be opposed, that cooperation
or compromise somehow is a betrayal, that maximalist, absolutist
positions on issues are politically advantageous, that there is a them
out there and an us, and them are the folks who are causing whatever
problems you're experiencing.'
WELCOME
MAT: President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wait for the
arrival of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this morning on the
South Lawn of White House
Trump is just 'doing more of' what Republicans in general have doing for the last seven and a half years, Obama said.
The leading GOP contender for the White
House's positions on a range of issues 'are not very different from
any of the other candidates,' Obama proclaimed.
He invoked Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio,
and said 'It's not as if there's a massive difference between Mr.
Trump's position on immigration and Mr. Cruz's position on
immigration.' Trump 'just might be more provocative' with how he says
it.
And it's 'not that different' from
Rubio's position either, he said, despite the fact that he and Cruz
have families that benefited from the 'openness of our society.'
ONCE
A POLITICIAN: The U.S. president was literally shaking hands and
kissing babies this morning as he welcomed Prime Minister Trudeau
'I am more than happy to own the
responsibility as president, as the only office holder who is elected
by all the American people, to continue to make efforts to bridge
divides and help find common ground,' Obama said.
'But what I'm not going to do is to
validate some notion that the Republican crack up that's been taking
place is a consequence of actions that I've taken.'
Obama advised Republicans against Trump to look inward for answers.
'There are thoughtful conservatives who
are troubled by this, who are troubled by the direction of their
party,' he said. 'I think it is very important for them to reflect on
what it is about the politics that they've engaged in that allows the
circus that we've seen to transpire and to do some introspection.'
NOT
MY FAULT: 'I don't think that I was the one to prompt questions about
my birth certificate, for example,' he said. 'I don't remember saying,
"Hey, why don't you ask me about that."
The topic of Trump and the Republicans came up as Obama held a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau suggested, as a joke, earlier
in the week that Americans in search of a new home if Trump wins the
election are welcome to come to Canada.
Asked about it today in the context of his views on Trump and Cruz, the 44-year-old politician played the role of statesman.
It is 'abundantly clear whenever a
president and a prime minister sit down to engage on important issues
of relevance to our peoples is that the relationship the friendship
between our two countries goes far beyond any two individuals or any
ideologies.'
'I have tremendous confidence in the
American people,' Trudeau said, 'and look forward to working with
whomever they choose to send to this White House later this year.'
Obama spoke first and noted that as he
was running for reelection in 2012, Americans were threatening to exile
themselves to Canada then as they are now.
'One of the great things about a
relationship like Canada's and the United States' is it transcends
party and it 's bipartisan in terms of the interests that we share.'
The
topic of Trump and the Republicans came up as Obama held a joint news
conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The relatively
new Prime Minister is seen here this morning during his first Oval
Office visit with Obama
Republican and Democratic presidential
candidates were meanwhile flying in and out of Miami, Florida, for
their next round of intra-party debates.
Tonight, Republicans will face each other on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables.
Yesterday, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders took their turn at Miami Dade College's Kendall campus.
Florida votes on Tuesday, and the
largely populated state has a substantial number of delegates to dole
out on both sides of the aisle. Illinois, Obama's home state, also
votes on Tuesday.
The White House said yesterday that it had not 'ruled out endorsing in the presidential race.'
'However, we do not plan to,' said Josh Earnest, the president's spokesman.
Earnest ran down a list of battles in
the 2008 primary, when Obama and Clinton were on the ticket at the same
time, and contended that it made the president a stronger candidate in
the general.
'It's not necessarily bad news' that
the race is lasting this long,' he said. 'And I think that would also
be part of the explanation for the president not weighing in, in that
race.'
Republican
and Democratic presidential candidates were meanwhile flying in and
out of Miami, Florida, for their next round of intra-party debates as
the president reflected on their prospects from the Rose Garden of the
White House
This afternoon Obama indicated from the Rose Garden that he won't disclose his absentee vote in Tuesday's election at this time.
'I think that the Democratic voters are
doing just fine working this out,' he said. 'I think its useful that
we've had a vigorous debate among two good people who care deeply about
our country and who have fought hard on behalf of working people in
this country for a long time.'
The president said, 'It's been a good
conversation, and my most important role will be to make sure that
after primaries [are] done I'm bringing everybody together so that we
focus on winning the general election.'
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