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President Barack Obama Strikes back at Donald Trump | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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U.S. President Barack Obama holds his hands together and bows at the end of his address at the Lao National Cultural Hall, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, in Vientiane, Laos September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst


President Barack Obama struck back at the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday at a news conference in Laos after a three-day visit to Southeast Asia, stressing that Trump is unsuitable for office and warning that his behavior is unacceptable and should not be normalized in the 2016 election cycle.

“There is this process that seems to take place over the course of the election season where somehow behavior that in normal times we consider completely unacceptable and outrageous becomes normalized and people think we ought to be grading on a curve” said Obama.

Obama’s words came after the Republican nominee blasted U.S. military brass and praised Russia’s Vladimir Putin during a televised forum where he said that Putin is “far more” of a leader than Obama.

“It’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly in that system he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader,” said Trump.

President Obama said that he doesn’t think Trump is qualified to be president of the United States. “Every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed,” said Obama.

“You actually have to know what you are talking about and you actually have to have done your homework. When you speak, it should actually reflect thought out policy you can implement,” added the U.S. president.

Trump has previously angered many in the military community with mocking remarks against U.S. Senator and former prisoner of war John McCain for being captured in Vietnam.

Obama is expected hit the campaign trail with Democratic nominee and former first lady Hillary Clinton when he returns to the United States, with voter turnout likely to be a key theme.

The president emphasized that he believes the American public will examine Trump’s contradictory track record “and make a good decision.”