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 "I actually think that Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have done us a
favor," Obama said, referring to policy positions that would
restrict Muslims and Mexicans from entering the country.
Obama said Trump and Cruz, the two front-runners in the Republican
nomination contest ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election, have
upset mainstream "establishment" Republicans with their insurgent
campaigns.
But he told about 100 people at the annual "signature" fundraising
dinner for Nancy Pelosi, Democratic leader in the House of
Representatives, that Trump had laid bare what some in the
Republican party had been saying for years.
"He said, 'You know what? I can deliver this message with more
flair, with more panache,'" Obama said.
 Speaking in an opulent two-storey atrium with marble pillars in the
home of billionaire oil heirs Gordon and Ann Getty, where donors
paid $33,400 per couple to benefit the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee, Obama mocked Trump.
"In 10 months, I will no longer be president of the United States.
But in 10 months, I will - contrary to Mr. Trump's opinion - still
be a citizen of the United States," he said, drawing laughter and
cheers from the crowd.
Trump had long raised questions about whether Obama, who was born in
Hawaii, was actually born outside the United States.
[to top of second column] |
It was Obama's fourth stop on a fundraising swing through San
Francisco and Los Angeles. Earlier, in San Francisco, Obama held a
private roundtable at the Potrero Hill home of Susan Sandler and
Steve Philips for the Democratic National Committee with about 25
people who paid up to $33,400 to attend.
He started Friday in Los Angeles with a breakfast event at the
Brentwood home of "Spiderman" actor Tobey Maguire, closed to the
media, where an undisclosed number of $33,400-tickets raised money
for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
On Thursday, he spoke at a fundraising dinner for the DCCC in a tent
with seating for about 80 people outside the Bel Air home of Alan
Horn, chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and Cindy Horn, an
environmental activist.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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