Obama rooting for no one in GOP debate

President Obama will follow coverage of the first Republican presidential primary debate Thursday night, but he will “not have a rooting interest,” the White House said. 

Press secretary Josh Earnest initially said he was not sure if Obama would watch the debate itself, before adding that he would probably watch at least some of it.

“I’d be surprised if the president spent a lot of his evening watching the debate,” Earnest said, adding he would probably catch “the highlights, or the lowlights.” 

{mosads}Earnest said he expects the Republicans’ statements to be “to be rather illuminating, particularly when you contrast that with the values and the priorities of this administration.” 

The president this week urged Democrats to watch the debate in order rebut the arguments from GOP candidates.

“Tune in, listen carefully to what the Republican candidates for president say, and then hold them accountable for trying to undo all of the hard work we’ve done to move this country forward,” Obama wrote in an email blasted out by the Democratic National Committee.