Obama: extreme views of Trump and Cruz are doing Democrats a 'favor'

President says Republican rivals’ positions on Muslims and Mexicans had publicised what some in the party have said for years

President Barack Obama told donors on Friday that Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were doing Democrats a “favor” by exposing extreme views within their party on issues such as immigration and national security.

 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 frontrunners in the Republican nomination contest ahead of the presidential election on 8 November, had 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 at 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 – contrary to Mr Trump’s opinion – still be a citizen of the United States

Barack Obama

“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 US.
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 on Friday in Los Angeles with a breakfast event at the Brentwood home of actor Tobey Maguire, which was 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, the chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and Cindy Horn, an environmental activist.