President Barack Obama, who said he didn't watch the 2016 election debates, said, "Some of the boundaries that used to be there for how you debated ideas have broken down." Politicians get more attention "the more outrageous they sound. ... If you say something crazy or rude, you're all over the news. That has fed this arms race of insults and controversy that doesn't shine a lot of light even though it generates a lot of heat."

He made the comments at a town hall in Elkhart, Indiana, hosted by PBS NewsHour coanchor Gwen Ifill on June 1.