Former President Barack Obama has harshly criticized the Trump administration over the war in Iran and high consumer prices, as he launches a campaign for Democrats ahead of the US midterm elections. Speaking to a crowd in Ohio on Saturday, Obama stressed the importance of the elections, declaring them “our best last chance to restrain at least some of the follies of this administration”. The statement marks a strong return by Obama to the political stage, with the aim of mobilising support for the Democratic Party at a pivotal moment for the country’s political future.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has promoted his administration’s policies on immigration and tariffs at a rally in Georgia. He told his supporters that “we are in America’s golden age”, highlighting the alleged successes of his government. The midterm elections, scheduled for 3 November, will determine which party controls Congress for the remainder of Trump’s term, directly affecting how easily the president can carry out his legislative plans. Early voting has already begun, and Trump cast his vote on Saturday in Florida, together with his wife, First Lady Melania Trump.
Speaking on Saturday in Ohio and Michigan, Obama targeted Trump and members of his cabinet, at one point mocking the president’s effort to redesign the White House. “After two years of chaos and cruelty, corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in the modern era, you have a chance to say, ‘enough’,” the former president said in Cleveland. Obama expressed sympathy for voters who turned away from Democrats in 2024 because of economic concerns and inflation following the Covid-19 pandemic. However, he stressed that Trump must blame only himself for the current state of the economy. “If you thought everything was too expensive before ‘you know who’,” he said, referring to Trump without using his name, “now everything is more expensive”.
Using insulting language, Trump accused Democrats of trying to open immigration from Libya, Yemen, Haiti and Somalia – countries he described as “infected by terror”. Recalling a previous meeting with several senators, he said: “I said, ‘Why do we always have to take people from filthy countries? Why can’t we take people from, like… Norway, Sweden? Why not Denmark?'” In Ohio, the current president faced an attack from his predecessor over the war in Iran, with Obama telling Democratic supporters that the conflict had given Tehran “veto power” over the Strait of Hormuz. Asked about the war earlier in the day, Trump said: “I’ve done it very effectively and I may have to finish it, or maybe they’ll make a deal, but I’m not sure. Either way, we win.” He was also asked whether Melania Trump would visit Ukraine after the White House announced that she had secured a ceasefire in a city occupied by Russia. “We’ll see,” he said.
At his afternoon rally, Obama also struck at Trump’s efforts to renovate the White House. “What’s with all the gold? He’s made the White House look like Saddam Hussein opened a ‘Cheesecake Factory’,” Obama joked. Obama’s rally in Ohio was to show support for former Senator Sherrod Brown, who is running to replace current Republican Senator John Husted, and Amy Acton, who is running for state governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. In his speech, Obama criticised Ramaswamy over a campaign ad released last week, in which Acton’s estranged mother appeared calling her a liar. The ad did not mention that the woman’s husband had been accused of raping Acton when she was a child. “In recent days, we’ve seen that there’s no line he won’t cross. No low he won’t stoop to in order to try to be at the center of attention,” Obama said. “I mean, think about this latest ad that he put out.” Acton also spoke at the campaign rally before Obama, arguing that Ramaswamy “chose to exploit my childhood” to “save his struggling campaign”.
Taken from BBC News