US election 2016: President Obama says Republicans 'occupy a different reality'

US President Barack Obama made fun of his Republican rivals at a Democratic fundraiser on New York's Broadway on 2 November, telling his audience that they "occupy a different reality".

Obama defended his legacy and poked fun at the Republican's positions on everything from the economy, to climate change and foreign policy. Speaking to a packed crowd at the Richard Rogers Theater after a special performance of the hit musical Hamilton, the US president mocked the Republicans for attacking his record.

"They occupy a different reality, it seems. According to them everything was really good in 2008, when we were going through the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes, unemployment and uninsured rates were up and we were hopelessly addicted to foreign oil and Bin Laden was still on the loose - this apparently was the golden age that I messed up. I messed it up. And Obamacare and immigrants and taxes and deficits all just messed everything up," he said.

Obama made fun of what he says is the position of many of the leading Republicans on climate change. He said: "On climate change; now if you went to a doctor. No, let's change that. You go to a hundred doctors and 99 of them tell you, 'You've got diabetes. You've got to stop eating bacon and doughnuts every day. And we have to monitor your health we got to fix this'. You wouldn't say, oh, that's a conspiracy, they're making that up. All 99 of those doctors got together with Obama to try to prevent me from having bacon and doughnuts. You wouldn't do that."

Both Donald Trump and Ben Carson, the two Republican presidential candidates leading in the polls, have made statements implying that they do not accept that climate change is real.

Obama also poked fun at the Republican presidential candidates for promising they could stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin when they could not "handle" the moderators from the debate at the end of October on cable network CNBC. "Have you noticed that every one of these candidates say 'Obama's weak, Putin's kicking sand in his face. When I talk to Putin he's going to straighten out. Just lookin' at him, I'm going to, he's going to be...' And then it turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators at a debate," he said.

Republican candidates have criticised the journalists who moderated the well-watched debate for what they said was a failure to ask relevant questions.