Barack Obama makes dramatic entry into US election with blistering attack on Donald Trump
Barack Obama launches blistering attack on the Trump presidency, calling on Americans to restore the nation’s ideals.
The charismatic Barack Obama is the uncharismatic Joe Biden’s best weapon in this US election campaign, so the former president’s late entry into the fray was strategically designed to cause maximum damage to Donald Trump.
Mr Obama used his first campaign speech in Philadelphia in the key swing state of Pennsylvania to deliver a blistering attack on Mr Trump’s presidency, calling on Americans to restore the value and ideals on which the nation was founded.
It came on the eve of the final presidential debate in Nashville on Friday (AEDT), which offers Mr Trump his best chance of sparking a comeback to challenge Mr Biden’s lead in the polls.
It also came as US intelligence chiefs revealed that Iran and Russia were seeking to interfere in the November 3 election with operations designed to intimidate voters and incite social unrest.
In his speech, Mr Obama repeatedly urged all Americans to vote on November 3, saying “what we do in these next 13 days will matter for decades to come”.
Mr Obama said the Trump presidency had seen a disastrous and deadly mismanagement of the coronavirus, the loss of millions of jobs and had left “our proud reputation around the world in tatters”.
“He hasn’t shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends or treating the presidency like a reality show he can use to get attention,” he said.
“But the thing is, this is not a reality show. This is reality.”
Mr Obama said Mr Trump had completely “screwed up” the response to the coronavirus that had led to 220,000 deaths, far more than was necessary. “Eight months into this pandemic, cases are rising again across this country,” he said. “Donald Trump isn’t suddenly going to protect all of us.
“He can’t even take the basic steps to protect himself,” he said, alluding to the fact the President caught COVID-19.
“That means lives lost and that means an economy that doesn’t work ... and asked if he would do anything different, (Trump) said ‘Not much.’ Really? Not much?’
“Joe is not going to call scientists ‘idiots’, he is not going to hold a super-spreader event at the White House. Joe will get this pandemic under control.”
Speaking at a drive-in rally amid honking car horns, Mr Obama, who is hugely popular among Democrats, sought to contrast Mr Trump with his opponent Mr Biden. “(Joe) is a native son (of Pennsylvania), the scrappy kid from Scranton, you know him and he knows you,” he said.
He said the former vice-president had “empathy, decency, that belief that everybody counts ... the presidency doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are and Joe has shown himself to be a friend of working people,” he said.
Mr Obama attacked the President for his failure to provide a policy alternative to Obamacare in the height of a pandemic. “Where is this great plan to replace Obamacare? There is none — they have no plan,” he said.
He also criticised Mr Trump’s penchant for conspiracy theories and raised reports that the President disparaged US soldiers. “Joe Biden would never call the men and women of our military ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ Who does that?’
“With Joe and Kamala (Harris) at the helm, you’re not going to have to think about the crazy things they said every day,” he said. “You’ll be able to go about your lives knowing that the president is not going to retweet conspiracy theories about secret cabals running the world or that navy SEALs didn’t actually kill (Osama) bin Laden.”
Mr Obama said Mr Trump’s words and actions “embolden other people to be cruel and divisive and racist, and it frays the fabric of our society and it affects how our children see things and it affects the ways that our families get along. That behaviour matters, character matters,” he said. “I’ve sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. And they are very different people. I explained that I never thought Donald Trump would embrace my vision or continue my policies, but I did hope for the sake of the country that he might show some interest in taking the job seriously. But it hasn’t happened. “
Mr Obama then made an appeal for voters to restore what he called the values of America. “America is a good and decent place but we have seen so much noise and nonsense it’s sometimes hard to remember ... we can’t just imagine a better future, we’ve got to work for it,” he said. “We will leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for and the values and ideals we embrace.”
He accused Mr Trump of lying every day. He said truth mattered and “we have to get those values back to the centre of American life.” Mr Obama is expected to campaign widely as Mr Biden’s 7.5 per cent poll lead nationally has contracted in the past week.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)
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