http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/barack-obama-trump-attack-plan-222902Obama previews his Trump attack plan
The president lays out his case against the Republican presumptive nominee. And enjoys it.
By Edward-Isaac Dovere
05/06/16 02:19 PM EDT
Get serious, President Barack Obama said Friday—and that goes for Donald Trump and all the Republicans who say they believe in their principles, but also Congress, voters, reporters and Bernie Sanders.
Obama didn’t say anything shocking in his impromptu press conference on Friday, pinned to the back of a statement urging people to see the wider picture of economic progress despite a light jobs report that doubled as an attack on congressional inaction for not doing more to help.
But if you’re looking for a playbook of the pointed swipes he’s going to spend the next six months taking on Hillary Clinton’s behalf—yes, her behalf, because though Obama said he thinks the primary process should play out and that Bernie Sanders has been good at raising issues, there’s delegate math, and "I think everybody knows what that math is”—it was all there in his 25 minutes in the White House briefing room.
It boils down to this: Trump, in Obama’s mind, is a buffoon-charlatan hybrid who’s only gotten as far as he has because the Republican Party’s a mess and reporters have fallen for the act. The president’s going to keep pointing out that being president isn’t a joke, all while he keeps laughing at Trump and chastising reporters for not asking enough follow-up questions (though of course, Obama took only four questions himself, and no follow-ups as he made this point).
The question that brought Obama the most visible amusement was one about House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) distancing himself from his own party’s nominee.
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