[2020 Election\Barack Obama]
Barack Obama: “More than 225,000 people in this country are dead. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed. Half a million jobs are gone in Florida alone. Think about that.”
Photo: YouTube
Former President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail, this time stumping for Joe Biden, and the fact that he is fired up and seems to be relishing his pugilistic role may spell bad news for Donald Trump. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
In a couple of recent campaign stops, in Pennsylvania and Florida, Obama took clear aim at Trump. He used humor and satire to excoriate Trump, who promoted the racist Birther conspiracy when Trump was introducing himself to Republican voters as a presidential candidate.
Obama may very well be the X factor Biden needs to push him across the finish line by shoring up the coalition that led Obama twice to victory and the White House.
Obama is Trump’s biggest nightmare. Obama, unlike Trump, had to earn everything he has achieved in life—and changed American history by becoming the nation’s first Black president. Trump’s Richie Rich, trust-fund baby life is overshadowed by the achievements of his father Fred Trump.
Obama seems to be reveling in his new role in exposing Trump as nothing more than the lazy son of a rich man, who has squandered everything he inherited: hundreds of millions from his father—and the Obama economy which rebound nicely from the economic disaster of the great recession that was gripping the country when President Obama entered the White House.
Here are a few things Obama said this past week about Trump on the campaign trail.
“I never thought Donald Trump would embrace my vision or continue my polices, 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. He hasn’t showed any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends.”
The 44th American president also pointed out that “He [Trump] did inherit the longest streak of job growth in American history but just like everything else he inherited he messed it up.”
Obama mocked Trump saying, “I get that this president wants full credit for the economy that he inherited, and zero blame for the pandemic that he ignored. But you know what the job doesn’t work that way. Tweeting at the television doesn’t fix things. Making stuff up doesn’t make people’s lives better. You’ve got to have a plan, you’ve got to put in the work.”
Here, Obama is clearly saying Trump is lazy, a stereotype that racist whites, like Trump, use against Black people. Obama also is telling the American people Trump really doesn’t care about their welfare, especially as they continue to suffer during the current COVID-19 crisis.
Obama also criticized Trump for saying there is “not much” he would do differently to handle the COVID-19 crisis.
“Really?” Obama asked. “Not much? Nothing you can think of that could have helped some people keep their loved ones alive?”
“More than 225,000 people in this country are dead. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed. Half a million jobs are gone in Florida alone. Think about that,” Obama said. “And what’s his closing argument? That people are too focused on Covid. He said this at one of his rallies. Covid, Covid, Covid, he’s complaining. He’s jealous of Covid’s media coverage. If he had been focused on Covid from the beginning, cases wouldn’t be reaching new record highs across the country this week.”
Obama also attacked Trump’s obsession with television ratings saying, “This is not a reality show–this is reality.”
The apprentice presidency of Donald Trump has been an unmitigated disaster. Obama has witnessed Trump constantly trash his legacy while causing deep harm to the country. Obama, who has been silent, for four years, is now clearly getting pent-up frustrations off his chest by slamming Trump using acerbic satire and humor.
Given Trump’s thin-skin, this tactic could goad Trump—who lacks discipline and impulse control—into making more unforced errors down the home stretch.
Some of Obama’s more forceful attacks against Trump took place in Florida. It seems clear the Biden campaign, and Obama, are trying to deliver a devasting defeat upon Trump by winning Florida—which Trump has to win to retain the White House.
Obama is also clearly trying to repair the fractured “Obama coalition” which was non-existent in supporting Hillary Clinton.
Barack Obama is not only fighting to preserve his presidential legacy, by helping elect Joe Biden, but he has now clearly taken the gloves off against Donald Trump.
