Obama to Trump: 'Stop whining'
WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama all but invited Donald Trump on Tuesday to jump into a fight with him, baiting the Republican nominee as he faces an overwhelming disadvantage in the polls just weeks before election day.
In a midday news conference in the White House Rose Garden, Obama, whose approval ratings rank among the highest of any U.S. politician, mocked Trump's complaints that the vote-counting system may be "rigged" while the race is still afoot.
"If you start whining before the game's even over? If whenever things are going badly for you and you lose, you start blaming somebody else, then you don't have what it takes to be in this job," Obama said, his voice cracking with amusement.
" ... I'd invite Mr. Trump to stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes."
Though taking on the popular sitting president would be an unconventional strategy at this point, Trump has proven repeatedly that he is susceptible to provocation, and Obama seemed to be aiming straight for that vulnerability.
_ Tribune Washington Bureau
