President Obama laid out his dreams for the Republican Party during a dinner speech before wealthy Democratic donors in San Francisco on Friday.
Obama, speaking at his second Democratic fundraiser on day two of his West Coast visit, again bashed GOP senators for overwhelmingly refusing to consider his Supreme Court nominee, according to press pool reports.
But the president laid into conservatives in the House of Representatives, calling them “more messed up” than the Senate. He claimed Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz have only borrowed the House Freedom Caucus’ strategy for pushing its agenda, and used it with “more flair” to appeal to voters.
Obama said his party’s presidential candidates — establishment Hillary Clinton and socialist Bernie Sanders — did not have quite a Republican-sized problem. In Thursday night’s private speech at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fundraiser, Obama admitted Democrats were not excited about the election. Obama left out those remarks from his Friday address, instead striking a more optimistic tone about both parties.
“There’s not this big ideological divide among Democrats. I want a Republican Party that is rational and well-functioning … but that’s not what we have now and that’s why this election is so important,” the president added, refocusing the conversation to fundraising off of the estimated 25 attendees.
The fundraiser was hosted by Steve Philips and Susan Sandler, the latter of whom is the chair for California Tomorrow and serves on the Justice Matters National Committee.
