President Obama on Tuesday said it’s way too early to judge whether Donald Trump’s popularity is a reaction to his eight years in the White House.
“The message that Donald Trump’s putting out has had adherence a lot of times during the course of our history. You know, talk to me if he wins. Then we’ll have a conversation about how responsible I feel about it,” Obama told Matt Lauer on the “TODAY” show Tuesday morning, during a live broadcast from the White House.
When asked if he could imagine Trump in the White House, Obama said, “I can imagine in a Saturday night skit,” he said. But he also said, “Look, anything’s possible.”
On the campaign trail, Trump often cites Obama’s poor leadership on issues such as national security, immigration and gun control. Many of the business mogul’s supporters express frustration with he current administration.
Although Obama brushed off the possibility of Trump clinching the nomination, the candidate leads nationally by a 14-point margin, and also competes for first place in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
Obama indicated again that he believes voters will put a Democrat in the White House.
“But I’m pretty confident that the overwhelming majority of Americans are looking for the kind of politics that does feed our hopes and not our fears, that does work together and doesn’t try to divide, that isn’t looking for simplistic solutions and scapegoating but looks for us buckling down and figuring out,” he said. “How do we make things work for the next generation.'”
