
United States President Barack Obama on Saturday gave a mocking rebuke of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for his incendiary language on the campaign trail, AFP reports.
Speaking at a Democratic party fundraising event in Dallas, Texas, Obama offered a blunt condemnation of what he claimed was the "divisiveness" fomented by Trump on the campaign trail, including his motto "Make America Great Again."
"We are great right now," Obama retorted, adding, "What the folks who are running for office should be focused on is how we can make it even better - not insults and schoolyard taunts and manufacturing facts, not divisiveness along the lines of race and faith. Certainly not violence against other Americans."
The comments come a day after a Trump campaign event was canceled in Chicago when protesters massed outside and inside the venue, mingling and in some cases brawling with the candidate's supporters.
Critics warned that Trump's inflammatory language set the tone for the violence, and urged him to tone down the campaign rhetoric.
Obama, in his remarks sharpened his criticisms of Trump and took a swipe at the mogul's antics in showcasing his wine label at a recent press conference.
"Has anybody bought that wine?" Obama joked, according to AFP, then added, "I want to know what that wine tastes like. I mean, come on, you know that's like some $5 wine. They slap a label on it, they charge you $50, saying this is the greatest wine ever. Come on!"
Meanwhile, Obama's former secretary of state and the Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, also sharply criticized Trump in a series of tweets, in which she referred to him as a “bully” and a force of “division and discrimination.”
“The ugly, divisive rhetoric we're hearing from Donald Trump—the encouragement of violence and aggression—is not only wrong, it’s dangerous,” tweeted Clinton.
During a rally in St. Louis Saturday, Clinton called the clash between Trump supporters and protesters in Chicago “deeply disturbing” - but blamed the GOP frontrunner for inciting the violence, according to The Hill.
On Twitter, she called on Americans to to “stand together against the forces of division and discrimination that are trying to divide America between ‘us’ and ‘them.’”
Clinton also mocked Trump’s campaign slogan, as Obama had done, by tweeting, “You don't make America great by getting rid of everything that made America great. Our values, diversity, openness—these are strengths.”