Obama mocks Republicans for complaining about CNBC: How are you going to deal with Putin?

President Barack Obama gleefully pointed to the recent spate of Republican debate complaints while he spoke at a Monday night fundraiser in New York City.

According to a White House pool report, Obama wondered how the GOP presidential candidates would handle foreign adversaries if they can't handle CNBC debate moderators.

"They say, 'When I talk to Putin, he's going to straighten out,'" Obama said of the Republican contenders.

"And then it turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators," the president added. "If you can't handle those guys, I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you."

The Republican presidential field and the Republican National Committee fiercely criticized CNBC for how it conducted itself during last Wednesday's primary debate. Among other things, they accused the moderators of asking biased questions in pursuit of a liberal agenda.

The candidates even went so far as to band together in an attempt to pressure future debate formats into being more favorable, while the RNC went as far as to suspend its upcoming debate with NBC News, CNBC's sister network, in retribution.