© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
President Obama on Thursday told reporters at the ASEAN summit that he believes Donald Trump’s behavior is “unacceptable and outrageous,” following the real-estate mogul’s performance during an NBC forum the night before. During the televised segment, Trump repeatedly slammed Obama and at one point said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing a better job than him. In response, Obama expressed concern that Trump’s incendiary rhetoric has become normalized. “I don’t think the guy’s qualified to be president of the United States, and every time he speaks that opinion is confirmed,” Obama said, from Laos. “This is serious business, and you actually have to know what you’re talking about.” He added, “There is this process that seems to take place over the course of the election season where somehow behavior that in normal times we consider completely unacceptable and outrageous becomes normalized and people think we ought to be grading on a curve.”