In what may have been one of his most candid  interviews to-date, President Barack Obama levied highly contentious charges against his Republicans rivals, accusing them of willingly allowing the economy to tank in order to regain the White House.

Speaking with 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft in an interview that aired Sunday night, the president said Republicans chose to stand on the sidelines while the economy worsened so that they could capitalize on blaming him.

“When I came into office in 2008, it was my firm belief that at such an important moment in our history, there was no reason why Democrats and Republicans couldn’t put some of the old ideological baggage aside and focus on common sense, what works, practical solutions to the tough problems we were facing,” Pres. Obama told “60 Minutes”.