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"The leaders of other countries are watching. The populations of other countries are watching," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. | AP Photo White House: GOP candidates are hurting America

The White House slammed the rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates on the trail, warning them to be wary that the world is watching this election.

“We’ve on a number of occasions had an opportunity to express our significant concerns with some of the divisive rhetoric that has been uttered on the campaign trail — not just by Mr. Trump but by a variety of Republican candidates for president,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Monday. “Many of those declarative statements are in direct conflict with basic American values, the kinds of values that were critical to the founding of this nation and values that have long been cherished by generations of America.”

Earnest gave no specific examples, but GOP front-runner Donald Trump has called for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and proposed a temporary ban on all Muslims. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto earlier Monday suggested Trump’s rhetoric has damaged the relationship between the two nations.

“The leaders of other countries are watching. The populations of other countries are watching,” Earnest said. “And part of a presidential campaign is to demonstrate to the American people, who ultimately will be doing the choosing here, that you have the aptitude to lead the country, and that means being a faithful messenger when it comes to articulating the values of the country.”

That’s part of what it means to be presidential, he added. “And I think all too often on the campaign trail a number of Republican candidates have, at least in my view, fallen quite short of that.”

Earnest said he hadn’t seen the Mexican president's comments but called the relationship between both countries critical to national security and the economy. “I’ll let President Peña Nieto offer up his own assessment of the state of Republican politics,” he said.