GOP nominee Donald Trump is unfit to serve as U.S. president, according to Barack Obama.
The current occupant of the Oval Office leveled this strong criticism at the GOP nominee during a press conference with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the White House.
Trump, who opposed the Iraq War, found himself engulfed in the latest media controversy du jour as a result of his off-the-cuff and/or insensitive response to the family of a Muslim-American military officer tragically killed in Iraq. Khizr Khan, the father of the fallen hero, used the Democratic National Convention platform to slam Trump’s plan to temporarily ban Muslim immigration into the U.S. until more thorough vetting procedures are in place.
Various prominent Republicans have distanced themselves from Trump’s remarks in the feud with Khan family.
At the press conference that was in part designed to promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership (a trade deal which Trump and Bernie Sanders vehemently oppose), Obama spent five minutes raising the issue of Trump’s fitness for national office and also called upon other Republicans to rescind their endorsement of the New York real estate mogul.
“I think the Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president. I said so last week and he keeps on proving it. The notion that he would attack a Gold Star family that made such extraordinary sacricbices on behalf of our country. The fact that he doesn’t have basic knowledge of critical issues in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia means that he is woefully unprepared to do this job.”
Based on the premise that Trump is a flawed candidate, some of his supporters and others have wondered about the agenda. In other words, why would the president publicly rebuke Trump rather that let the latest controversy continue to simmer in media precincts to the billionaire businessman’s detriment?
know Trump isn’t your typical presidential candidate or politician, but for Obama to intervene in this way he must be a v big threat to Dems
— Walaa™ (@WalaaIdris) August 2, 2016
It also possible that the attacks on Trump could backfire as some have claimed occurred in the U.K. when Obama publicly supported the Remain side in the Brexit referendum , which lost in an upset.
“There has NEVER been a sitting president who has so immersed themselves so directly into an ongoing presidential race between two other candidates,” DC Whispers shouted.
“While Obama has long been critical of Trump, his blistering condemnation Tuesday was a notable escalation of his involvement in the presidential race,” the New York Times added.
Obama attacks Trump’s temperament, saying he is ‘woefully unprepared’ https://t.co/8ov6Pw1Bk1
— Post Politics (@postpolitics) August 2, 2016
Donald Trump posted a statement on his Facebook page and on Twitter evidently in response to Obama’s latest broadside.
“Obama-Clinton have single-handedly destabilized the Middle East, handed Iraq, Libya and Syria to ISIS, and allowed our personnel to be slaughtered at Benghazi. Then they put Iran on the path to nuclear weapons. Then they allowed dozens of veterans to die waiting for medical care that never came…They have betrayed our security and our workers, and Hillary Clinton has proven herself unfit to serve in any government office…”
Trump fires back at Obama, says Clinton ‘unfit’ for government https://t.co/w0P56ee8Sn
— kylaw74 (@kylaw74) August 2, 2016
In an interview with Breitbart News , George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf claimed that Trump’s temporary Muslim ban is constitutional under Title VIII, Section 1182, of the U.S. Code.
“I think virtually all constitutional scholars would say they may not like it, but we can’t say it’s unconstitutional,” Prof. Banzhaf asserted.
2008 Obama: McCain is risky and erratic 2012 Obama: Romney killed a woman w/ cancer 2016 Obama: Why can’t Trump be like Mitt or McCain
— Razor (@hale_razor) August 2, 2016
In a separate Breitbart story, the website claimed that Khizr Khan has deleted his law firm’s website from the internet, a firm that allegedly financially benefits from Muslim immigration to the U.S.
President Obama reportedly plans to campaign extensively across the country for Hillary Clinton in October. Before being elected president in 2008, after defeating Hillary Clinton in the primary and John McCain in the general election, Barack Obama was a first-term U.S senator from Illinois. Prior to that, he was a state senator and a community organizer.
“While the President has freely criticized Trump in the year since the businessman entered the race, his denunciations have come faster and harsher in the last several weeks,” CNN noted .
[Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Images]