Story highlights President Barack Obama mocked Republican presidential candidates for complaining about debate moderators

"Let me tell you, if you can't handle those guys, then I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you," Obama said

(CNN) President Barack Obama tore into Republican presidential candidates Monday night at a Democratic fundraising event in New York, saying their complaints about CNBC's debate moderation aren't an encouraging preview for their governing abilities.

"Have you noticed that everyone of these candidates say, 'Obama's weak. Putin's kicking sand in his face. When I talk to Putin, he's going to straighten out,'" Obama said, impersonating a refrain among Republican candidates that he's allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin too much leeway.

"Then it turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators at the debate. Let me tell you, if you can't handle those guys, then I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you," Obama said.

Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Photos: Republican debates in Colorado John Kasich, left, and Donald Trump argue across fellow candidates during the GOP debate at the University of Colorado in Boulder on Wednesday, October 28. Fourteen candidates participated in the third set of Republican presidential debates. Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado The debate was Ben Carson's first since rising to the top of the polls. He slammed "PC culture" and said the idea that a person who believes marriage is between a man and a woman is a homophobe was "one of the myths the left perpetrates on our society." Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Ted Cruz got a big cheer from the crowd with an attack on the debate moderators. "How about talking about the substantive issues people care about?" he asked. The mainstream media was one of the night's big targets. Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Jeb Bush went after Marco Rubio for missing votes in the Senate while running for the White House. "Just resign and let someone else take the job," Bush said. Rubio fired back, saying Bush never took issue with Sen. John McCain missing votes when he was running for president. "The only reason you're doing it now is because we're running for the same position." Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Mike Huckabee likened the federal government to a NORAD blimp that became untethered earlier in the day. "If you saw that blimp that got cut loose in Maryland today, it's the perfect example of government." He said it ran away and then "got too big" to "get rid of." Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado In her closing statement, Carly Fiorina said, "I may not be your dream candidate just yet, but I can assure you I'm Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare." Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado John Kasich wasted no time in going on the attack. In response to a question to each candidate on what their greatest weakness is, Kasich immediately pivoted to slamming the front-runners, though not by name. "My great concern is that we are on the verge perhaps of picking someone who cannot do this job," he said. Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Rand Paul, right, speaks as Chris Christie looks on. Paul said, "If you're not willing to gradually raise the age, you're not serious about" fixing Social Security and Medicare. On the same topic, Christie hit the Democrats for making big promises. "When they say they want to give it to you free, keep your hand on your wallet," he said. Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Trump, who had predicted early that the debate would be unfair, criticized CNBC's moderators for asking "ridiculous questions." Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado From left, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, George Pataki and Lindsey Graham take the stage for the second-tier GOP debate that took place before the main event at the University of Colorado. Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Attendees listen to the first debate. For all four men, the pressure was on to raise their national poll numbers to qualify for the main debate stage in November. Hide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Sen. Lindsey Graham, a national security hawk, called President Barack Obama an "incompetent commander in chief" and also took aim at the Democratic candidates. Regarding Bernie Sanders, Graham said: "The No. 2 guy went to the Soviet Union on his honeymoon, and I don't think he ever came back." Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Former New York Gov. George Pataki, center, also went after the Democrats. He said Hillary Clinton's private email server as secretary of state "disqualifies" her from being president. Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal accused Democrats of "trying to turn the American dream into a European nightmare." Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Republican debates in Colorado "A true conservative wants to create a level playing field," former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said. "That's what government is supposed to do. ... And when it comes to our manufacturers, the level playing field is not in the United States." Hide Caption 15 of 15

Republicans widely decried the GOP primary debate sponsored by the financial news network last week, saying the questions lacked substance and the moderators failed to adhere to agreed-upon standards. An effort to insist upon debate reforms, however, appeared uncertain Monday evening

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