Reluctantly, Obama embracing his role as the anti-Trump
When Obama waded in, it was only to offer implicit rebukes of the Trump phenomenon, such as his assertion in September that "America is great right now" — a not-so-veiled reference to the business mogul's campaign promise to "make America great again."
In his latest rebuke, Obama unloaded on Trump's proposal to compel Mexico to pay for a border wall by threatening to cut off remittances that Mexican immigrants in the U.S. send back home.
Obama's public scolding of Trump, who for years peddled inaccurate claims about Obama's birth certificate, dates back to 2011, when Obama roasted him at the glitzy White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
Obama, echoing the broader message from Democrats this year, has stressed that Trump isn't the only Republican espousing "draconian" rhetoric about Mexicans, Muslims and others.
Yet the brunt of Obama's criticism has centered on Trump, who has the best mathematical path to the Republican nomination despite losing in Wisconsin on Tuesday.