--- title: Obama Pokes Fun at GOP Candidates' Complaints Over CNBC Debate description: President Barack Obama has expressed his amusement over the GOP presidential candidates' discontent with last week's CNBC debate canonical: https://time.com/4097792/obama-republican-debate-cnbc/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-03T04:30:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:17:36.502Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Pokes Fun at GOP Candidates' Complaints Over CNBC Debate og:description: "It turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators." og:url: https://time.com/4097792/obama-republican-debate-cnbc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta41af7223f5a3c0a/69886f4f5f570fb39eb1e254/ap_646950496841.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Pokes Fun at GOP Candidates' Complaints Over CNBC Debate twitter:description: "It turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta41af7223f5a3c0a/69886f4f5f570fb39eb1e254/ap_646950496841.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Pokes Fun at GOP Candidates' Complaints Over CNBC Debate by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Nov 3, 2015 4:30 AM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York, Nov. 2, 2015, at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. President Barack Obama speaks at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York, Nov. 2, 2015, at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.Susan Walsh—AP by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Nov 3, 2015 4:30 AM UTC President Barack Obama has[ expressed](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/obama-mocks-gop-candidates-complaining-836254) his amusement over the GOP presidential candidates’ discontent with last week’s CNBC debate. “They say, ‘When I talk to Putin, he’s going to straighten out,’” Obama said while speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in New York City on Monday. “And then it turns out they can’t handle a bunch of CNBC moderators.” His remarks were reported by the _Hollywood Reporter_. “I mean, let me tell ya … if you can’t handle those guys, you know then I don’t think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you.” Since last week’s debate in Boulder, Colo., the GOP has [criticized](http://time.com/4094681/republican-debate-cnbc-rnc/) CNBC for what candidates and party operatives saw as aggressive and politically biased questioning. The party has since suspended its debate partnership with the network’s owner, NBC. \[[_THR_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/obama-mocks-gop-candidates-complaining-836254)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4097792/obama-republican-debate-cnbc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4097792/obama-republican-debate-cnbc/"},"headline":"Obama Pokes Fun at GOP Candidates' Complaints Over CNBC Debate","datePublished":"2015-11-03T04:30:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:17:36.502Z","description":"\"It turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators\"","url":"https://time.com/4097792/obama-republican-debate-cnbc/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Barack Obama","Republican Party","GOP"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta41af7223f5a3c0a/69886f4f5f570fb39eb1e254/ap_646950496841.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta41af7223f5a3c0a/69886f4f5f570fb39eb1e254/ap_646950496841.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"Barack Obama","creditText":"Susan Walsh—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4097792/obama-republican-debate-cnbc/","name":"Obama Pokes Fun at GOP Candidates' Complaints Over CNBC Debate"}}]}] ```