Obama didn't watch Trump's acceptance speech because he has 'a lot of stuff to do'

(Image credit: Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)

published 22 July 2016

Watching Donald Trump's acceptance speech Thursday night at the Republican National Convention somehow didn't make it to the top of President Obama's to-do list. During a Friday press conference alongside Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Obama admitted he didn't turn on the TV to hear what the Republican presidential nominee had to say. "I've got a lot of stuff to do," Obama said, adding that conventions "are pretty long events":

However, Obama said he did "read some of what was said," and in his opinion, some of the things Trump was saying didn't exactly "jive with the facts." "This idea that America is somehow on the verge of collapse, this vision of violence and chaos everywhere, doesn't really jive with the experience of most people," Obama said, citing FBI statistics showing America has actually gotten less violent in the last 30 years. "We're not going to make good decisions based on fears that don't have a basis in fact," Obama said. "And that, I think, is something that I hope all Americans pay attention to."