Before President Obama disembarked on his vacation to Hawaii alongside his family, he held his final press conference in the White House briefing room.
This is par for the course whenever the president goes off for a holiday. It is especially notable for the Christmas holiday and because Obama is about to vacate the White House for President-elect Donald Trump.
What Obama said, however, is raising some eyebrows.
The president contended that the United States “is stronger and more prosperous” than it was when he assumed office and based on intelligence assessments, “the Russians were responsible for hacking the DNC,” referring to the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC.
President Obama: "Our country is stronger and more prosperous" than it was 8 years ago https://t.co/UYpqI3esEb https://t.co/nGuJ29K1cI
— CNN (@CNN) December 16, 2016
President Obama: Based on intelligence assessments, "the Russians were responsible for hacking the DNC" https://t.co/zHhf9lyM5u
— CNN (@CNN) December 16, 2016
Obama also said he told Putin to “cut it out” with regards to hacking.
Obama to Putin: “Cut it out.”
Obama to Putin: “We can do stuff to you.”
— Matt Viser (@mviser) December 16, 2016
People were not impressed with these and other remarks he made throughout the press conference.
https://twitter.com/americasux1776/status/809851088497242113
Is there any lie our outgoing president will not tell? How can he spout this stuff with a straight face? #Pressconference
— Stacy Washington (@StacyOnTheRight) December 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/americasux1776/status/809851088497242113
#Putin does not really respond to "Cut it Out"#Pressconference #RussiaHacking
— Dina Gusovsky (@DinaGusovsky) December 16, 2016
Separately, journalists of all stripes lamented Obama’s verbose approach.
I'm gonna miss these succinct answers @POTUS #Pressconference
— RickLeventhalFoxNews (@RickLeventhal) December 16, 2016
We are still on the first question here, right? #Pressconference
— wesinjapan (@wesinjapan) December 16, 2016
