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People who go to a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris might be inclined to boo when they hear Donald Trump’s name, but Barack Obama doesn’t want to hear it.
The former president, who made his first appearance on the campaign trail in support of Harris, her running-mate Tim Walz, and Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey at a Pittsburgh rally on Thursday, wasted no time in taking apart the man who he famously roasted so badly at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner that many believe it inspired Trump’s 2016 campaign for the presidency.
Obama told the crowd that he understands why Americans might be “looking to shake things up” in this country, because many “are still struggling” and “striving to make life better for themselves, for their families, and for their kids.”
“Let’s face it, as a country, we’ve been through a lot these last few years, we had a historic pandemic wreaking havoc on communities and businesses. Disruptions from the pandemic then caused prices to spike, and that put a strain on family budgets, and in many ways, it’s felt like the aspirations of working people have taken a backseat to the priorities of the rich and the powerful,” he said.
“So I can understand people feeling frustrated, feeling we can do better. What I cannot understand, is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you!”
“I don’t understand that, because there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself,” he continued, calling Trump “a 78 year old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”
Obama took a fillet knife to his successor, whose “ranting and raving about crazy conspiracy theories” and “two-hour speeches” and “word salads” he compared to Fidel Castro, the Cuban communist dictator known for his marathon harangues against America.
He also invoked the non-stop stream of products hawked by Trump and his family members, including the Trump-branded Bibles, gold sneakers and watches that have made appearances on Trump’s social media feeds during his presidential campaign.
“Who does that? He wants you to buy the Word of God Donald Trump edition. Got his name right there, next to Matthew and Luke!”
“It’s crazy,and the reason he does it is because all he cares about is his ego and his money and his status. He’s not thinking about you,” Obama continued, adding that Trump “sees power as nothing more than a means to an end” and would hurt America’s middle class with tax cuts for his “country club buddies” while taking away women’s reproductive rights.
As the crowd expressed their displeasure by booing loudly, Obama stopped them.
“Don’t boo — vote!” he said.
“They can’t hear your boos, but they can hear your votes.”
Obama said Trump’s callousness extends to wanting Americans to remain “hopelessly divided” and “angry” because he thinks doing so will help him retake power, citing his failure to act while a riotous mob of his supporters sacked the Capitol and tried to lynch his then-running-mate, Vice President Mike Pence.
“If Donald Trump does not care that a mob might attack his own Vice President, do you think he cares about you? Pennsylvania, we do not need four more years of that,” he said.
“We don’t need four more years of arrogance and bumbling and bluster and division. America is ready to turn the page. We are ready for a better story, one that helps us work together. Instead of turning against each other. Pennsylvania, we’re ready for President Kamala Harris!”
And Harris, Obama said, is “ready to do the job.”
He described her as “a leader who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people” and someone who understands the struggles of middle-class Americans.
“Kamala is as prepared for the job as any nominee for president has ever been. That’s who Kamala is,” he said.
He also said Harris’s running-mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, would make an “excellent partner” for her in the White House, recalling Walz’s history as a veteran, a teacher, a high school football coach, and a “great governor” who has been “working with Democrats and Republicans to get stuff done.”
“If you elect Kamala and Tim, they won’t be focused on their problems. They understand that too many folks here in Pennsylvania and across the country are struggling to pay the bills, even though wages are still growing and inflation is finally slowing,” he continued.
“The price of everything from health care to housing to groceries, it’s still too high, and that takes a real bite of paychecks. It hurts. So the question is, who’s really going to do something about it? That’s what you should be asking yourself,” he said.
Turning the subject back to Trump, Obama acknowledged that some Americans might recall the US economy as having been “pretty good” during much of the time when Trump was in office.
“It was pretty good because it was my economy,” he said. “We had 75 straight months of job growth that I handed over to him. It wasn’t something he did. I spent eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans had left me the last time … so just in case everybody has a hazy memory, he didn’t do nothing!”
He also savaged Trump for his recent tactic of spreading blatant lies about the response to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton — lies that have left many Americans reluctant to ask for help from the government because they are fearful of emergency management officials.
“The idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments — when did that become okay?”
The 44th president also took aim at the cult of masculinity Trump has tried to cultivate around himself over the last four years.
“Even if you had a family member who acted like that, you might still love him, but you tell him you got a problem and you wouldn’t put him in charge of anything. And yet, when Donald Trump lies or cheats or shows utter disregard for our Constitution, when he calls POWs ‘losers’ or fellow citizens ‘vermin,’ people make excuses for it. They think it’s okay,” he said.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen — that’s not what real strength is. It never has been. Real strength is about working hard and having a heavy load without complaining. Real strength is about taking responsibility for actions and telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient,” he continued.
“Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters and for our sons, and that is what I want to see in a President of the United States of America,” he said.
