International News

WASHINGTON, (APP/AFP) – President Barack
Obama on Thursday bristled at suggestions that he had contributed to the partisanship that has given rise to Donald Trump, saying he was not responsible for the Republican party’s “crackup.”
“One of my regrets is the degree to which polarization and the nasty tone of our politics has accelerated rather than waned over the course of the last seven-and-a-half years,” Obama said in a press conference.
“What I’m not going to do is to validate some notion that the Republican crackup that’s been taking place is a consequence of actions that I’ve taken.”
“I have been blamed by Republicans for a lot of things, but being blamed for their primaries and who they’re selecting for their party is novel,” he said.
Obama insisted he was ready to try and bridge divides, but said blame for Trump lay elsewhere.