White House: Trump is no role model
President Obama does not see Donald Trump as a role model, his top spokesman said Tuesday.
{mosads}“He does not, and he’s made that pretty clear in a variety of settings,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest replied when asked whether the president believes Trump is a role model to others.
The question was an easy one to answer for the White House, which has bashed the GOP presidential nominee repeatedly over the course of the campaign.
But on Monday night the question tripped up Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), who is running in a tough race for reelection in a battleground state.
Ayotte, who has not endorsed Trump for president, said she “absolutely” views him as a role model during a debate.
She later walked back her praise for the GOP standard-bearer. Her campaign released a statement following the debate, saying she “misspoke.”
Ayotte’s Democratic opponent, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, and other Democrats pounced on her comments, using them to tie the senator to her party’s presidential nominee.
“Senator Ayotte’s statement during the debate that she ‘absolutely’ would point to Trump as a role model for children speaks for itself and was a revealing moment that she cannot take back,” Hassan said in a statement.
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