Former President Barack Obama on Thursday delivered some of his most pointed remarks yet against GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump during the Democrat’s first rally for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Why it matters: Obama acknowledged as he made an impassioned case for Harris in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, where polls indicate the presidential race toss-up margins could be closer than in 2020, “this election’s going to be tight.”
5 takeaways
1. On Trump’s hurricane aid comments: “Donald Trump, at a rally, just started making up stories about the Biden administration withholding aid to Republican areas and siphoning off aid to give to undocumented immigrants,” he said. “Everybody knew it wasn’t true. Even local Republicans said it was not true.”
- The idea “of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments … when did that become OK? Why would we go along with that?” Obama said.
2. Harris’ policies touted over Trump’s “concepts of a plan”: Obama said Harris has “concrete plans” on housing and taxes.
- “With Kamala, you’ve got actual plans. Trump… concepts of a plan,” said Obama — a dig at the Republican’s comments during his debate with Harris that he had “concepts of a plan” on health care after calling his predecessor’s signature law, the Affordable Care Act, “lousy.”
- “If you challenge Trump to elaborate and enumerate his ‘concepts,’ he will fall back on one answer,” Obama said. “Doesn’t matter what the issue is, housing, health care, education, paying the bills — their only answer is to blame immigrants.”
3. Appeal to male voters: “I’m sorry, gentlemen. I’ve noticed this especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior, the bullying, and the putting people down is a sign of strength. I am here to tell you that is not what real strength is,” said Obama of gender polls showing Trump slightly ahead of Harris among men.
- “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.”
4. On the economy: “This election’s going to be tight, because there are a lot of Americans who are still struggling out there,” said Obama, citing the impact of the COVID pandemic.
- “What I cannot understand is how anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that’s good for you, Pennsylvania,” he said. “You think Donald Trump ever changed a diaper?”
- Obama called Trump a 78-year-old billionaire who rants “about crazy conspiracy theory” and who makes “constant attempts to sell you stuff,” including Bibles, adding: “He wants you to buy the Word of God, Donald Trump edition. He’s got his name right there, next to Matthew and Luke.”
5. On the economy under Trump: “The reason some people think, ‘I remember that economy when he first came in being pretty good — yeah, it was pretty good because it was my economy!” Obama said.
- “We had 75 straight months of job growth that I handed over to him,” he added. “He didn’t do nothing! Except those big tax cuts. His other big economic plan now is to slap tariffs on everything, from food to TVs.”
The other side: Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News: “If anyone cared about what Obama says, Hillary Clinton would’ve been president.”
- Representatives for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment in the evening.
