Obama Rips Trump

                    Barack Obama 'found the tape as repugnant as most Americans did' Credit: 

 

US president Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's comments on a 2005 videotape about groping women would disqualify him from even a job at a convenience store.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Mr Obama said that the choice was clear in the November 8 election even before the tape was leaked last week showing Mr Trump speaking crudely about women.

"Now you find a situation in which the guy says stuff that nobody would find tolerable if they were applying for a job at 7-Eleven," Mr Obama told the crowd, referring to the convenience store chain. During Sunday night's presidential debate the Republican candidate apologized for the comments, but then dismissed them as "locker-room talk".
Obama also criticized some Republicans who have condemned the remarks but are still backing the New York businessman.
"The fact that now you've got people saying: 'We strongly disagree, we really disapprove ... but we're still endorsing him.' They still think he should be president, that doesn't make sense to me," Mr Obama said.



Earlier on Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest condemned the "repugnant remarks" in the recording, saying those actions would constitute sexual assault.

"The president found the tape as repugnant as most Americans did," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

"There has been a pretty clear statement by people all along the ideological spectrum that those statements consisted sexual assault," Mr Earnest said. "That's why many people, I believe, have concluded that those statements are worthy of sharp condemnation."

Mr Earnest said that the turmoil in the Republican Party isn't surprising. He said Republicans have spent more than seven years prioritizing opposition to Mr Obama over facts or true conservative principles. "You reap what you sow," he told reporters on Air Force One.