President Barack Obama waves as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., to Marine One for his trip to Pennsylvania and Ohio on Thursday. Obama, speaking at an Ohio Democratic Party fundraiser Thursday night, said messages through conservatives that include Fox News and Rush Limbaugh have built divisiveness and anger in the country. Photo by Molly Riley/UPI | License Photo

COLUMBUS, D.C., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama blamed the rise of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Republicans who have been "feeding their base all kinds of crazy for years."

Obama, speaking at an Ohio Democratic Party fundraiser Thursday night, said messages through conservatives that include Fox News and Rush Limbaugh have built divisiveness and anger, creating an atmosphere that has allowed Trump to prosper.


"This is in the swamp of crazy that has been fed over and over and over and over again," he said. "If I watched Fox news I wouldn't vote for me, I understand. If I was listening to Rush Limbaugh, I'd say, man this is terrible."

Obama also had tough words for Republicans who have been pulling back support for Trump after a video surfaced showing Trump using vulgar language and sexual references in a conversation with former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush.

"They don't get credit for at the very last minute when finally the guy that they nominated and they endorsed and they supported is caught on tape saying things that no decent person would even think, much less say, much less brag about, much less laugh about or joke about, much less act on," Obama said. "You can't wait till that happens then say it's too much."

Limbaugh, speaking on his radio show Thursday, said the Obama White House has been continually inconsistent over similarities between Trump's comments and real-life situations. He said first lady Michelle Obama has invited hip-hop musicians, known to sing about sexual assault, to the White House to perform.

"Men brag, and she is telling people that she doesn't know men who brag. You know the people that have been to the White House? How about some of the rappers that talk about their bitches and their hos have performed such lyrics in the White House? But she doesn't know men who talk and sing about sexual assault. It's all over hip-hop lyrics and has been for a while," he said.

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Ohio Republican Party spokeswoman Brittany Warner dismissed Obama's comments, saying, "That rhetoric won't work in our state, which reelected the entire Republican statewide ticket by double digits in 2014."