Outgoing President Barack Obama has condemned Donald Trump as unsuitable to be commander-in-chief, after the Republican nominee blasted US military brass and praised Vladimir Putin.
“I don’t think the guy’s qualified to be president of the United States, and every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed,” Obama said in unusually caustic language while overseas.
Obama, who was in Laos for a summit with Southeast Asia leaders and his final trip to east Asia, said that Trump holds contradictory and “outright wacky ideas” and is “uninformed”.
“I can tell you from the interactions I have had over the last eight or nine days with foreign leaders that this is serious business,” Obama added. “You actually have to know what you are talking about and you actually have to have done your homework. When you speak, it should actually reflect thought out policy you can implement.”
Trump on Wednesday raised eyebrows by saying that Putin was “far more” of a leader than Obama (see lead story).
Trump also drew fire for criticising the military.
“The generals have been reduced to rubble,” Trump said, before noting he had “faith in certain of the commanders”.
Speaking in Laos about Trump’s unsuitability for office, Obama observed that over the course of the election season “people start thinking behaviour that in normal times we would consider completely unacceptable and outrageous becomes normalised”.
Obama is expected to hit the campaign trail with Clinton when he returns to the United States, with voter turnout likely to be a key theme.
Obama won the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections handily by mustering large numbers of young, black, Latino and Asian voters to go to the polls.
Meanwhile, Clinton chastised Trump yesterday for hinting about things that he learned in classified intelligence briefings, calling it “totally inappropriate and undisciplined”.
Speaking to reporters the morning after a New York security forum featuring separate appearances by the two candidates, Clinton also slammed the businessman for praising Putin and saying that US generals had been “reduced to rubble” by Obama’s policies.
“I would never comment on any aspect of an intelligence briefing I received,” said Clinton, a former secretary of state, before boarding her campaign plane.
Trump’s campaign fired back at Clinton after her session with reporters, saying that she was resorting to “unhinged and dishonest” attacks.
“These are the desperate attacks of a flailing campaign sinking in the polls, and characteristics of someone woefully unfit for the presidency of the United States,” Jason Miller, senior communications adviser for Trump, said in a statement.
Clinton’s lead over Trump in national opinion polls has weakened in recent days.
The current average of polls by website RealClearPolitics puts her at 45.6% support, compared to Trump’s 42.8%.
Clinton said she would convene a meeting of bipartisan security experts today to discuss the fight against Islamic State militants.
“What you didn’t hear from Donald Trump last night was any plan to take on ISIS,” Clinton told reporters, using an acronym for the group. “That’s not only dangerous, it should be disqualifying.”