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President Barack Obama criticized Republican frontrunner Donald Trump as unfit for the presidency during a press conference held on Tuesday.
Speaking in California after a meeting of leaders from Southeast Asia, Obama spoke about the difficulty of being president and reiterated his belief that Americans would not elect Trump.
"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. "It's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It's not promotion. It's not marketing. It's hard."
.@POTUS: I believe @realDonaldTrump will not be president, because I have faith in Americans https://t.co/OF460LadqU https://t.co/DQztXVHbnS
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 16, 2016
The president's remarks also touched on the new Supreme Court vacancy, the Islamic State, and the Democratic primary campaign. Obama said he would move to fill the seat opened up by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia over the weekend.
After saying he doesn't believe Trump will be elected, Obama detailed the magnitude of the challenges that face the president.
"Whoever's standing where I'm standing right now has the nuclear codes with them, and can order 21-year-olds into a firefight and [has] to make sure that the banking system doesn't collapse — and is often responsible for not just the United States of America, but 20 other countries that are having big problems," Obama said.
Here are the president's comments on Trump:
"I'll leave it to you to speculate on how this whole race is going to be. I continue to believe that Mr. Trump will not be president. And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people. And I think they recognize that being president is a serious job. It's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It's not promotion. It's not marketing. It's hard.
And a lot of people count on us getting it right. And it's not a matter of pandering and doing whatever will get you in the news on a given day. And sometimes it requires you making hard decisions, even when people don't like it. And doing things that are unpopular. And standing up for people who are vulnerable, but don't have some powerful political constituency.
And it requires being able to work with leaders around the world in a way that reflects the importance of the office. And it gives people confidence that you know the facts. And you know their names. And you know where they are on a map. And you know something about their history.
And you're not just going to play for the crowd back home, because they have their own crowds back home. And you're trying to solve problems. And so during primaries people vent and they express themselves and if it seems like entertainment, and oftentimes it's reported just like entertainment, but as you get closer, the reality has a way of intruding.
And these are the folks I have faith in. Because they're ultimately going to say, whoever's standing where I'm standing right now has the nuclear codes with them and can order 21-year-olds into a firefight and have to make sure that the banking system doesn't collapse — and is often responsible for not just the United States of America, but 20 other countries that are having big problems or are falling apart and will be looking for us to do something.
