The final question at President Obama’s B.S.-laden presser this afternoon had to do with — who else? — Donald Trump:
NBC’s Ron Allen: “Let me continue the 2016 questions. On the Republican side — and a lot of your guests were probably very intrigued by the fact that there’s a candidate who’s still winning who’s called for ban on Muslims and significant segments of the population agree with […] In the past, you’ve explained that as anger, resentment, insecurity, economic insecurity, the question is, how much responsibility do you accept for that reservoir of feeling in the country that’s propelling that sort of candidate? And a couple of weeks ago, you told Matt Lauer that Donald Trump would not win the presidency. Do you now think that he will not win the nomination as well? And what about Rubio, and what about Cruz?”
Obama’s response begins around the 1:25:20 mark:
Here’s part of that response:
“I don’t think it’s restricted, by the way, to Mr. Trump. I mean, I find it interesting that everybody’s focused on Trump, primarily just because he says in more interesting ways what the other candidates are saying as well. So, he may up the ante in anti-Muslim sentiment, but if you look at what the other Republican candidates have said, that’s pretty troubling, too. He may express strong anti-immigration sentiment, but you’ve heard that from the other candidates as well. You’ve got a candidate who sponsored a bill — that I supported — to finally solve the immigration problem, and he’s running away from it as fast as he can. […] I’ll leave it to you to speculate on how this whole race is gonna go. I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president.”
Many tweeters couldn’t help but get the feeling that while Trump’s not causing Obama to lose much sleep, there’s another candidate in the GOP race who is:
Obama said he disagrees with Trump, and Rubio used to agree with him on immigration. Don't pretend there's no motive behind that.
— Wesley Larkin (@paulwlarkin) February 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/699724309439389697
https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/699724802924404736
feels like Obama just wrote a campaign ad for Trump. Plus anyone who wants to run against Rubio (Cruz, Bush…)
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) February 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/699725016099897344
He called out Trump knowing full well that it will elevate Trump, whom Dems would be thrilled to face. https://t.co/v2vg0VSbbg
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 16, 2016
Very int comments from POTUS on 2016. Reaffirmed HRC's main argument v Sanders (can get stuff done), sought to elevate Trump, hurt Rubio.
— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) February 16, 2016
Given the president’s remarks, that may not be too far a stretch.
@EWErickson @stephenfhayes which should tell everyone who the democrats fear most
— Mandi Laurila (@mlaurila04) February 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/rrtapia/status/699725343955877890
@EWErickson Even the president knows who the fear the most! Marco Rubio! #TeamMarco
— jag (@jagseiko) February 16, 2016
@EWErickson @stephenfhayes Correct…Because the dems fear Rubio the most.
— Vicki (@vicker2001) February 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/699726881348788224
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