President Barack Obama says he still believes that Donald Trump will not become president of the United States and suggested that Trump will lose popularity as the election grows more serious.
“I continue to believe that Mr. Trump will not be President,” Obama said. “And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people.”
The president made his remarks during a press conference in Rancho Mirage, California, during a US-ASEAN summit with Southeast Asian leaders.
During his press conference, Obama said he believes that foreign leaders were “troubled” by the notion that Trump could become president. “I think foreign observers are troubled by some of the rhetoric that’s been taking place in these Republican primaries and Republican debates,” he said.
He included the entire Republican party in his criticism of Trump. “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,” he said.
Obama said that Trump managed to “up the ante” in anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment, which Obama said was repeated by other candidates.
Obama singled out Marco Rubio for “running away” from immigration reform “as fast as he can” after working on a bill with Senate Democrats that he (Obama) also supported.
The president also said that the GOP candidates’ views on climate change concerned business leaders around the world. “I think that’s troubling to the international community since the science is unequivocal,“ he added.
“This is not just Mr. Trump,” he stated. “Look at the statements that are being made by the other candidates. There’s not a single candidate in the Republican primary that thinks we should do anything about climate change.”