Obama chides 2016 candidates for 'ridiculous,' 'sad' remarks

President Barack Obama gestures during a joint news conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Monday, July 27, 2015, at the National Palace in Addis Ababa. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ethiopia.
President Barack Obama gestures during a joint news conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Monday, July 27, 2015, at the National Palace in Addis Ababa. Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ethiopia.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Insisting that Americans deserve better, President Barack Obama chided Republicans Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz on Monday for a series of campaign-trail attacks that he said would be "ridiculous if it weren't so sad."

In some of his first commentary on the race to replace him, Obama accused the candidates of violating a time-honored American tradition of not playing "fast and loose" on topics of grave concern such as foreign policy. And he said that regardless of which party wins the White House, he wants to ensure he's turning over the keys to someone capable of seriousness and honesty.

"We have robust debates, we look at the facts," Obama said during a news conference in Ethiopia. "We just don't fling out ad hominem attacks like that because it doesn't help inform the American people."

A day earlier, Huckabee said Obama was so naive about Iran that he agreed to a nuclear deal that would "take the Israelis and basically march them to the door of the oven," a reference to crematoria in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Obama suggested the tough rhetoric was a ploy by Huckabee to "get attention" or to push Trump out of the headlines.

"It's not the kind of leadership that's needed for America right now," he said.

Trump, whose poll numbers are on the rise, has drawn consternation from the Republican Party over provocative comments he's made about immigrants and his GOP rivals, which some Republicans say could hurt the party's prospects in 2016.

Obama also singled out Cruz, the Texas senator, for suggesting in the wake of the nuclear deal that Obama — not Iran — is the leading state sponsor of terrorism.

"These are leaders in the Republican Party," Obama said incredulously. He warned it was creating a culture that would stifle good politics and policies in the U.S. "The American people deserve better. Certainly presidential debates deserve better."

Unprompted, the president also brought up how Trump had dismissed Arizona Sen. John McCain's reputation as a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam. Trump said he liked "people who weren't captured."

Praising McCain's heroism, Obama said the Republican Party was shocked at Trump's remark, but added that it grew out of a culture where those types of comments are tolerated.

"When outrageous statements are made about me, a lot of people outraged about McCain were pretty quiet," Obama added.

Although Obama reserved his toughest rebuke for Republicans, he said both parties needed to approach the campaign with decorum. So far, the Democrats competing for the nomination have mostly avoided the type of caustic attacks that have become commonplace in the GOP primary more than a year out from Election Day.

Reader poll

Which GOP presidential candidate would you most likely choose in 2016?

  • Jeb Bush 14%
  • Scott Walker 8%
  • Marco Rubio 7%
  • Mike Huckabee 14%
  • Rand Paul 4%
  • Ben Carson 6%
  • Ted Cruz 5%
  • Donald Trump 26%
  • Rick Perry 2%
  • Other (please comment) 13%

605 total votes.

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