Barack Obama hit the campaign trail in the Midwest with a blunt message for voters: the country, he argued, is paying the price for Donald Trump’s leadership — and November’s midterm elections offer a chance to push back.
The former US president delivered sharp criticisms of his successor at rallies in Ohio and Michigan as Democrats seek to reclaim control of one or both chambers of the US Congress, which are currently held by Mr Trump’s Republican party, ahead of the 3 November midterm elections.
Mr Obama, who remains highly popular with Democratic voters, is working to convert that support into turnout for the party’s candidates in key races.
In both stops, the 65-year-old tied the Trump administration to rising household costs, a major concern for voters as fuel prices soar.
“The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions,” Mr Obama said in Ohio, where he appeared to boost former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown.
“Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for.
“After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in the modern era, you get a chance to say, ‘Enough is enough,'” Mr Obama declared in Cleveland.
“We are voting for change right here in Ohio.”
From there, Mr Obama headed to Michigan, campaigning for Abdul El-Sayed, a left-wing Democrat locked in a tight US Senate race against Republican Mike Rogers.
“Imagine the power duo of Abdul and Elissa,” Mr Obama said, nodding to incumbent Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin, who is not on the ballot this year.
“You got a Muslim man, you got a Jewish woman fighting for you in the United States Senate. That’s something, Michigan, you can be proud of.”
Barack Obama and Abdul El-Sayed during a campaign event in Detroit, Michigan
Mr Obama also pressed supporters to vote early, noting that early voting is already under way in both states.
“Don’t procrastinate, don’t equivocate,” he said.
In Ohio, Mr Brown is attempting a political return in a contest against incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted. The governor’s race is set to pit Democrat Amy Acton against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for president in 2024.
Polling in Ohio shows Democrats narrowly ahead in both races, though the margins suggest a close finish.
Mr Obama also trained his fire on Mr Trump’s renovation projects in Washington, taking aim at changes across the US capital — including what he called a botched overhaul of the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool, the construction of a massive White House Ballroom and the guilded decorations Mr Trump has added to the Oval Office during his second tenure.
“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” Mr Obama said, invoking the popular, indulgent American restaurant chain.
Across the country, polls indicate Democrats could be positioned to retake the House of Representatives, while the fight for the Senate is shaping up to be significantly more competitive.
