In a joint news conference at the White House conducted with the visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, President Barack Obama washed his hands of the Republican "crackup" and the ascent of Donald Trump.

"I have been blamed by Republicans for a lot of things, but being blamed for their primaries and who they're selecting for their party is novel," he said.

The Polarizing State of US Politics and the Rise of Trump

While some political analysts and members of the Republican elites have earlier suggested that the president has incited the polarized political landscape in the country, Obama fired back and said that the divisiveness couldn't be blamed on anyone other than the Republicans themselves.

He said that the Republican political elites and information outlets like social media and news outlets were the ones who delineated the separation between the "them" and the "us." They came up with the notion that there is a need to oppose everything Obama does and that cooperation or compromise is a form of betrayal on their part.

He also cited the instance when the opposition brought up the issue on his "birth certificate" and birthplace. He said that it was his detractors who insinuated that there were questions about his loyalty to the United States or whether he, indeed, has the country's best interest at heart.

"And so what you're seeing within the Republican party is, to some degree, all those efforts over a course of time creating an environment where somebody like a Donald Trump can thrive. He's just doing more of what has been done for the last seven and a half years," Obama said.

Obama Wants a Better Opposition Party

Obama also took the time to urge the other camp to do some self-contemplation among themselves to have a grasp of the kind of politics that they have created and eventually led to the mess or "circus" as Obama would like to put it.

"I think it is very important for them to reflect on what it is about the politics that they've engaged in that allows the circus we've been seeing transpire," he said. "And to do some introspection."

According to the president, there is a need for a better minority party in order to challenge the blind spots and dogmas in the majority. And, this is the reason why he said he wants a more effective Republican Party.

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