President Obama ripped into the news media on Tuesday for what he characterized as grading Republican hopeful Donald Trump "on a curve."
At a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Obama said he gets "frustrated" with the coverage of the race between Trump and his former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who he has endorsed.
"Guys in the back, I'm just telling you the truth about how I feel about this," Obama said to the press assembled. "Do you mind if I just vent for a second?"
The crowd roared its approval.
"You don't grade the presidency on a curve," he said. "This is serious business."
Obama castigated Trump over not releasing his tax returns, while praising Clinton for doing so, in addition to touting the Clinton Foundation's activities and ripping Trump's actions with his own charity.
"You want to debate who's more fit to be our president?" he asked. "One candidate who's traveled to more countries than any secretary of state ever has, has more qualifications than pretty much anyone who's ever run for this job, and the other who isn't fit in any way, shape or form to represent this country abroad and be its commander-in-chief."
Obama said the standards for "what's normal have changed."
"Donald Trump says stuff every day that used to be considered as disqualifying for being president," he said. "And yet, because he says it over and over and over again, the press just gives up and they just say, 'Well, yeah, you know, OK."