Obama Criticizes Huckabee, Trump, Cruz and Other Republicans
Peter Baker
The New York Times
July 27, 2015ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - President Barack Obama on Monday lashed out at Republican presidential candidates for making what he called “ridiculous” claims about his policies and “outrageous attacks” that crossed the line of political decorum.
At a news conference while visiting this African country, Obama defended the international nuclear agreement he and other world leaders reached with Iran and he bristled at the assertion by former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas that the president’s policy would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.”
Obama said such comments demonstrated a lack of seriousness on the part of those seeking to succeed him and reflected an anything-goes political culture that rewards incendiary rhetoric over sober deliberation. Asked specifically about Huckabee’s remarks, Obama linked them to those of other Republican presidential candidates, including businessman Donald J. Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
“The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are just part of a general pattern we’ve seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad,” Obama said. “We’ve had a sitting senator call John Kerry Pontius Pilate. We’ve had a sitting senator, who also happens to be running for president, suggest that I’m the leading state sponsor of terrorism. These are leaders in the Republican Party.”
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