Obama calls on senior Republicans to withdraw support for Trump
Published: Aug. 2, 2016 at 1:10 p.m. ET
Greg Robb
President calls Republican nominee 'unfit' for the Oval Office
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)—President Barack Obama called on senior congressional Republicans to withdraw their support for Donald Trump, saying that the Republican nominee is "unfit" and "woefully unprepared" for the Oval Office.
During a joint press conference with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, Obama pointed to Trump's "attack" on a Gold-Star family, and his lack of "basic knowledge around critical issues in Europe, in the Middle East and Asia."
The president said repeated denunciations of various Trump statements from leading congressional Republicans were starting to "ring hollow."
"If you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, then why are you still endorsing him," the president said.
"There has to be a point in which you say 'this is not somebody I can support for president of the United States, even if he purports to be a member of my party'," Obama said.
If senior Republican leaders, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, don't rescind their support for Trump, then the party is effectively endorsing or validating Trump's views, the president said.
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Greg Robb is a senior reporter for MarketWatch in Washington. Follow him on Twitter @grobb2000.