Obama criticizes Republican presidential contenders in State of the Union address

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'State of denial': Cruz slams Obama's State of the Union

Republican presidential candidate tells Megyn Kelly he's not surprised that the president didn't mention US sailors held by Iran; says world's 'bullies and tyrants' are not afraid of President Obama

President Obama on Tuesday took parting shots at Donald Trump and other GOP White House hopefuls during his final State of the Union address.

"Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control," Obama said in what appeared to be a thinly-veiled shot at Trump.

Immediately following the speech, Trump tweeted that it was "really boring, slow, lethargic - very hard to watch."

Obama also pushed back on comments Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has made about the escalating tension in the Middle East.

Obama said the world is looking to the United States for leadership and added the U.S. response must be more than calls "to carpet bomb civilians."

Those remarks were aimed at Cruz, who has said he would carpet bomb ISIS. Trump has used similar rhetoric to describe how he would handle the Islamic terrorists.

During his seventh State of the Union address Obama also defended policies he had put in place and touched on the major goals he mapped out for his final year in office, including measures on gun control and his intention to close the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison camp.