San Francisco – President Barack Obama on Friday told donors that Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were doing Democrats a “favor” by exposing extreme views within their party on issues such as immigration and national security.
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“I actually think that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have done us a favor,” Obama said, referring to policy positions that would restrict Muslims and Mexicans from entering the country.
Obama said Trump and Cruz, the two front-runners in the Republican nomination contest ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election, have upset mainstream “establishment” Republicans with their insurgent campaigns.
But he told about 100 people at the annual “signature” fundraising dinner for Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, that Trump had laid bare what some in the Republican party had been saying for years.
“He said, ‘You know what? I can deliver this message with more flair, with more panache,'” Obama said.
Speaking in an opulent two-storey atrium with marble pillars in the home of billionaire oil heirs Gordon and Ann Getty, where donors paid $33,400 per couple to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Obama mocked Trump.
“In 10 months, I will no longer be president of the United States. But in 10 months, I will – contrary to Mr. Trump’s opinion – still be a citizen of the United States,” he said, drawing laughter and cheers from the crowd.
Trump had long raised questions about whether Obama, who was born in Hawaii, was actually born outside the United States.
It was Obama’s fourth stop on a fundraising swing through San Francisco and Los Angeles. Earlier, in San Francisco, Obama held a private roundtable at the Potrero Hill home of Susan Sandler and Steve Philips for the Democratic National Committee with about 25 people who paid up to $33,400 to attend.
He started Friday in Los Angeles with a breakfast event at the Brentwood home of “Spiderman” actor Tobey Maguire, closed to the media, where an undisclosed number of $33,400-tickets raised money for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
On Thursday, he spoke at a fundraising dinner for the DCCC in a tent with seating for about 80 people outside the Bel Air home of Alan Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and Cindy Horn, an environmental activist.
Who cares what that lame duck president has to say
Obama leaves office as probably the most hated President of recent times. It’s why no Democrats running for office want him at their rallies. The popularity of these extremist views are a direct result of his presidency. The world is a total mess. He accomplished the Iran deal, a mess in the middle east, and Cuba. Domestically, he accomplished Obamacare and created a lot of racial tension and hate. That’s why the only Democrats who can run on his record are an independent socialist and a very disliked 1 term senator / 1 term secretary of state. It’s pathetic. In both parties, hate of the current system is winning. It’s directly because of his failure of a presidency. Yet, he is out having $33,400 a seat parties with the rich and famous. How many people can say that the world is in a better place today than it was 8 years ago? His statements are a direct reflection on his own performance, and he doesn’t even realize it.
Mr “O” be careful you don’t want to hit Trump to hard. Remember if he becomes our next president he gets to nominate the next AG. Yiu and your cabinet cannot afford to have someone bent on looking through the mounds of scallions you’ve no doubt worked hard to bury!
I suspect he is right. The GOP’s treatment of Trump all but assures a split in the right-wing vote which will allow the Democrats an easy victory.