President Obama urged his supporters to watch the Republican presidential primary debate, but the White House says he won’t be watching himself.
Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it’s unlikely Obama will sit for the first GOP debate, hosted by Fox News later in the evening.
“I think the president will probably watch the coverage of the debate but I have a hard time imagining he’s going to be tuning in,” Earnest said. “It is going to be a circus.”
Earnest’s remarks come just two days after Obama sent an email to supporters to say how “important” it is for them to watch.
“While these Republicans may have bad ideas, they’re still smart politicians,” Obama said in the email, predicting that the GOP candidates will talk about repealing Obamacare and undoing marriage rights for same-sex couples. “They know how to make policies that will take us in the wrong direction sound like they might actually be pretty good ideas.”
He added, “That’s exactly why I’m calling on you to tune in, listen carefully to what the Republican candidates for president say, and then hold them accountable for trying to undo all of the hard work we’ve done to move this country forward. I can’t overstate what an important difference you can make by doing this.”
“So, can I count on you to watch the GOP’s debate on Thursday?” the message concluded.
