Obama: ‘Hopefully’ opposition from GOP lawmakers weakens in second term

President Obama said in an interview aired Tuesday that he was hopeful Republican opposition to his agenda could weaken if he's elected to a second term.

"If we win — when we win — I think what you’ll see is that initially there may be some resistance, but you know, they’ve been obsessed over the last four years with defeating me," Obama said in an interview with radio host Tom Joyner. "After the election I will have won my last race. And hopefully they’ll recognize that the kind of obstruction that they’ve engaged in is not good for them politically and it’s certainly not good for the country."

Obama has repeatedly charged congressional Republicans with obstructionism, claiming they have blocked his agenda to weaken him politically.

In an interview with the Des Moines Register released Wednesday, the president accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of maintaining an "ironclad filibuster."

"First of all, Mitch McConnell has imposed an ironclad filibuster from the first day I was in office," Obama told the paper's editors. "And that's not speculation. I mean, this is — it’s amply recorded. He gave a speech saying, my task is to defeat the president."

---