President Barack Obama played stand-up comic Monday at the expense of the GOP and tossed off punchy one-liners making fun of the spiraling debate drama enveloping the Republican Party.
The commander in chief, speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in New York City, wondered aloud why the large crop of GOP presidential candidates were so roiled by last week's CNBC debate that they've demanded major changes in future forums.
"They say, 'When I talk to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, he's going to straighten out — ' And then it turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators," Obama said, according to
The Hill.
Over the past several days, many of the candidates have grumbled about CNBC moderators John Harwood, Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick, complaining they asked inappropriate questions and were politically biased.
Dr. Ben Carson, the Republican front-runner told Newsmax TV the business-news network had staged a "gotcha" debate.
Nonsense, according to the president.
"If you can't handle those guys, I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you," Obama told the Democratic crowd.
He said the GOP candidates "occupy a different reality" in their views of the world and how his administration has fared.
"According to them, everything was going really great in 2008 … This apparently was the golden age, that I messed up," Obama said.
"And Obamacare, and immigrants, and taxes and deficits all just messed everything up. And they're really so glum. They really are so frustrated."
The fundraiser was held at Richard Rodgers Theatre and featured a special presentation of "Hamilton," the award-winning Broadway show that won the 2015 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical.
"Michelle and I love this show. It also happens to be the only thing Dick Cheney and I agree on," Obama quipped.
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