Donald Trump to President Obama: I could have beaten you in 2012
The Washington Post
February 17, 2016 13:25 MYT
February 17, 2016 13:25 MYT
TRUMP: You're lucky I didn't run last time, when Romney ran, because you would have been a one-term president. - Filepic
President Obama and Republican front-runner Donald Trump exchanged insults on Tuesday, with the president insisting Trump would not be elected president and then Trump insisting that the president's slam was actually a compliment.
"I continue to believe that Mr. Trump will not be president. I have a lot of faith in the American people, and I think they recognize that being president is a serious job," Obama said during a press conference in California on Tuesday. "It's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It's not promotion. It's not marketing. It's hard."
Trump was asked about the comment during a campaign event in Beaufort, South Carolina, that was set up like a fireside chat. Van Hipp Jr., a former South Carolina GOP chairman, asked the candidate questions and read aloud the president's comment -- prompting the crowd to boo.
"He has done such a lousy job as president," Trump said, emphasizing each word. "You look at our budgets, you look at our spending, we can't beat ISIS, Obamacare is terrible -- we're going to terminate it, we're absolutely going to terminate it. And you look at everything, our borders are like Swiss cheese, this man has done such a bad job, he has set us back so far, and for him to say that is actually a great compliment."
Trump then shared this message for the president: "You're lucky I didn't run last time, when Romney ran, because you would have been a one-term president."