beyond birtherism, donald trump hasn<u+2019>t been kind to the sitting president on the campaign trail. | ap photo by madeline conway 11/10/16 12:41 pm est donald trump met with president barack obama on thursday as he prepares to transition to four years in the oval office. to say that the two have a bitter public relationship would be an understatement. trump rose to political prominence by propagating the false conspiracy theory, viewed by many people as racist, that obama, the nation<u+2019>s first african-american president, was not born in the united states. (he finally backed away from that debunked claim this fall.) story continued below beyond birtherism, trump hasn<u+2019>t been kind to the sitting president on the campaign trail, regularly declaring that he is a terrible president and that his tenure and many legislative accomplishments, such as health care reform, are a <u+201c>disaster.<u+201d> and in trump form, he made some more outlandish statements about the president, including the claim that obama had founded isis. here are nine of the most inflammatory things trump has said about obama. 1. trump started out by saying that obama was not born in the united states trump<u+2019>s false claims that obama was not born in america are well-documented, with slate posting a rundown of his many musings on twitter to that effect. for example: <u+201c>an <u+2018>extremely credible source<u+2019> has called my office and told me that @barackobama's birth certificate is a fraud,<u+201d> trump tweeted in august 2012. in 2013: <u+201c>why are people upset w/ me over pres obama<u+2019>s birth certificate?i got him to release it, or whatever it was, when nobody else could!<u+201d> in 2016, trump bit the bullet and arranged a news conference to acknowledge obama<u+2019>s american birthplace. he followed that statement by claiming that hillary clinton had started the rumor and said he <u+201c>finished it.<u+201d> (this is false.) 2. <u+2018>president obama has been the most ignorant president in our history<u+2019> on the campaign trail, trump has been unequivocal in his condemnation of obama<u+2019>s presidency, joining republicans in hitting the president for his health care law, known as obamacare, and for his response to terrorism. trump also said obama was clueless. by nolan d. mccaskill <u+201c>i think president obama has been the most ignorant president in our history. his views of the world as he says don<u+2019>t jibe and the world is a mess,<u+201d> trump told reporters in july. <u+201c>president obama <u+2014> when he became president, he didn't know anything. this guy didn<u+2019>t know a thing,<u+201d> trump continued. <u+201c>and honestly, today he knows less. today, he knows less. he has done a terrible job.<u+201d> 3. <u+2018>he has been a disaster<u+2019> one of trump<u+2019>s more common refrains was to declare obama<u+2019>s presidency a disaster. at that same florida news conference, he said, <u+201c>he has been a disaster as a president. he will go down as one of the worst presidents in the history of our country. it is a mess.<u+201d> 4. trump called the president the <u+2018>founder of isis<u+2019> in august, trump suggested that obama founded isis, among many other statements from the campaign trail that prompted many headlines and raised eyebrows. and questioned by hugh hewitt, the conservative radio host, whether he meant that obama had created a vacuum that allowed the terrorist group to thrive, trump doubled down . <u+201c>no, i meant he<u+2019>s the founder of isis. i do. he was the most valuable player. i give him the most valuable player award,<u+201d> trump said, adding that he gave the same honorific to hillary clinton. 5. <u+2018>i believe i know far more about foreign policy than he knows<u+2019> trump also repeatedly questioned obama<u+2019>s foreign policy chops. in august, he went on fox news channel<u+2019>s <u+201c>the o<u+2019>reilly factor<u+201d> to describe the president as <u+201c>weak<u+201d> and suggest that he knows more about foreign policy than the president, despite his own lack of experience in government or the military. <u+201c>i think he's been a disaster. he's been weak, he's been ineffective,<u+201d> trump said . <u+201c>i believe i know far more about foreign policy than he knows. look at ukraine. he talks about ukraine [and] how tough he is with russia, in the meantime, they took over crimea.<u+201d> by madeline conway 6. trump said the country<u+2019>s generals were <u+2018>reduced to rubble<u+2019> under obama at a town hall event hosted by nbc in september, trump said : <u+201c>under the leadership of barack obama and hillary clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble.<u+201d> he labeled that development as <u+201c>embarrassing for our country.<u+201d> 7. he said obama was <u+2018>concerned i<u+2019>m going to win<u+2019> trump also dismissed obama<u+2019>s loud criticism of him, explaining away the sitting president<u+2019>s harsh rebukes of his candidacy as worry about his chances of winning. <u+201c>i think it just means he's concerned i'm going to win,<u+201d> trump said in august . <u+201c>don't forget, last time he said i would never get the nomination, now he's saying i wouldn't get the election now, all of the sudden, he said the other day maybe i can win the election.<u+201d> 8. he called obamacare a <u+2018>catastrophe<u+2019> in line with the establishment of the republican party, trump also attacked obama at times on policy, with the president<u+2019>s signature health care reform law as his main target. he has called for its immediate repeal. <u+201c>obamacare means higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality,<u+201d> trump declared in the last stretch of the campaign. <u+201c>it is a catastrophe.<u+201d> 9. trump said he would have beaten the president in 2012 "you're lucky i didn't run last time, when [mitt] romney ran, because you would have been a one-term president," trump said in february in south carolina. by bill scher by joshua zeitz by thomas wright by jack shafer
9 of the nastiest things trump said about obama - politico
madeline conway nolan d. mccaskill madeline conway jack shafer