WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that Donald Trump is unfit to serve as commander in chief and dared Republicans to rescind their endorsements of their presidential nominee.
Leading Republicans' denunciations of Trump's comments "ring hollow" so long as they continue to endorse his candidacy, Obama said.
"If you are repeatedly having to say, in very strong terms, that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?" Obama asked at a news conference alongside Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. "What does this say about your party that this is your standard-bearer?
"There has to come a point at which you say, 'Enough,'" Obama said. " ... The alternative is that the entire party effectively endorses and validates the positions that are being articulated."
Obama laid out his case for Republicans: Several, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have been forced to condemn Trump's divisive remarks, most recently about the family of an Army captain killed in Iraq, without necessarily naming Trump. The nominee also appears to lack an understanding of foreign affairs that would qualify him to run U.S. diplomacy, Obama said, and he simply has failed to demonstrate the capabilities of previous Republican nominees.
Obama's comments echoed the stinging rebuke he delivered last week in a prime-time address at the Democratic National Convention. But these remarks came in a more formal and less political setting, not at a party rally but in the East Room of the White House, alongside a foreign head of government being honored later with a state dinner.
Asked about Trump's recent comments about foreign policy and his continued criticism of the family of a fallen U.S. service member, the president was blunt: "Yes. I think that the Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president."
"I said so last week. And he keeps on proving it," he added. "The fact that he doesn't appear to have basic knowledge around critical issues in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia means that he's woefully unprepared to do this job."
Obama noted that he had serious policy differences with the two Republicans he defeated, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"But I never thought that they couldn't do the job," he said.
