As President Obama looks at the 2016 election thus far, he says he’s growing more annoyed by the Republican candidates stirring up anti-government sentiment and cynicism about Washington D.C.
“I do think that what’s different this time is – particularly in the Republican party – you have I think the most disgruntled or suspicious of Washington portion of the electorate that is driving the process,” he said.
Obama revealed his thoughts about the 2016 election during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, in which he criticized the “bumper sticker” solutions to complex problems.
“The problem with election season is sometimes folks want to devote a lot more time to sloganeering and stirring folks up emotionally, but they’re not spending enough time really trying to explain to the American people what exactly you are trying to do,” he said.
He suggested that the size of the Republican field was leading to more simplistic campaigning for an increasingly partisan party unwilling to compromise.
“You know I think that what we’re seeing on that side at least is a lot of folks who are good at social media or getting attention, but there hasn’t been – maybe because of Super PACs – a winnowing down of the process where people are forced to really talk about the issues in a more serious way.”