President Barack Obama says GOP nominee Donald Trump's recent suggestion that the US might not come to the defense of NATO allies is another sign of Trump's "lack of preparedness" on foreign policy.
Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Trump's comments to the New York Times in which Trump suggested allies that haven't paid their NATO dues wouldn't be guaranteed of getting help if Russia invaded were an admission that the US might not live by NATO's "most central tenet."
Obama, speaking before the Democratic National Convention begins Monday, said Trump's comments on NATO last week were "an indication of the lack of preparedness that he has been displaying when it comes to foreign policy."
NATO members promise that an attack against any of them is considered an assault against all.
Trump told the Times that he wouldn't predict the US response in the case of a Russian attack of smaller NATO allies like Estonia or Latvia. "If they fulfill their obligations to us, the answer is 'yes,'" Trump said.
Obama responded: "There is a big difference between challenging our European allies to keep up their defense spending, particularly at a time when Russia's been more aggressive, and saying to them, 'You know what? We might not abide by the central tenant of the most important alliance in the history of the world.'"
In contrast, Obama said that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who served as secretary of State in his first term, is supremely capable of taking over the reins of power in January.
He said he believes there has never been candidate better prepared for the presidency.
"She's not always flashy. And there are better speech makers. But she knows her stuff," Obama said. Obama address an array of issues during the interview, including: race relations.
He said additional scrutiny or suspicion of African-American males is "just a common experience that many of us share. But I will tell you that it's a lot better now than it was. And that doesn't mean that we can be complacent about it." on why he used the term "radical Islam" as a candidate in 2008 but not as president.
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"So when you finally get them on tape bragging about actions that qualify as sexual assault, and his poll numbers go down, suddenly that's a deal-breaker," Obama said.
"Well, what took you so long? What the heck? What took you so long?" he asked.
"All these years you've been idolising Ronald Reagan, and suddenly your presidential nominee is kissing up to Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer. You've got a bromance with him," he said.
"You're a Republican official that says you love the Constitution, say that I am engaging in unconstitutional behavior -- power grabs, executive actions -- but you then are okay with a President who says he'd silence reporters; in a debate, says he will jail his opponent without due process; wants to deport whoever he wants; apparently has not heard of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments," Obama said.
Why would you support him, a charged up Obama asked.
"Why didn't you offer him your pocket Constitution, like Captain Khan's father did, if you care so much about the Constitution?All these years you've said you stand for family values. But why didn't you walk away months ago when you heard your nominee for President, the guy you were hoping could become President, call women 'pigs', 'dogs', 'slobs'; grades them not on their character or their intelligence, but on a scale of one to ten?" he asked.
"And now the excuse they're using for why they should be elected is, 'Well, maybe we did support Trump and now we're being kind of quiet about it, but you should vote Republican anyway because we'll check Hillary's power, we'll be a counterweight'," Obama said.
