{"id":96546,"date":"2026-10-25T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=96546"},"modified":"2026-10-24T17:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T23:11:05","slug":"obama-issues-searing-attacks-on-trump-ramaswamy-in-return-to-campaign-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/obama-issues-searing-attacks-on-trump-ramaswamy-in-return-to-campaign-trail\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama issues searing attacks on Trump, Ramaswamy in return to campaign trail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Obama<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Former President Barack Obama on Saturday attacked President Trump\u2019s administration in searing and mocking terms, saying it was defined by \u201cincompetence the likes of which we have not seen in modern times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearing in Cleveland at his first campaign rally of the midterm elections, Mr. Obama delivered his most forceful attack on Mr. Trump in recent memory. He also criticized a campaign ad from the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, Vivek Ramaswamy, saying it exemplified a coarsening of American politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama, who has been selective about publicly criticizing Mr. Trump, condemned his Republican successor\u2019s stewardship of the country in terms that were personal and pointed. He said Mr. Trump\u2019s second term had amounted to \u201ctwo years of chaos and cruelty and corruption,\u201d argued that top administration officials were not \u201cnot serious people\u201d and said Mr. Trump had led the country into an economically painful war in Iran \u201cthat nobody asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a former president, I can tell you sometimes factors beyond a president\u2019s control end up foiling the best-laid plans,\u201d Mr. Obama said. But, he added: \u201cThat is not the case here. In this case, this administration\u2019s actions are directly responsible for rising costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama, describing Mr. Trump as \u201cyou know who\u201d or \u201cthis guy in the White House,\u201d said America had never had a president \u201cexcel so wildly at just straight-up grifting.\u201d And he cast Mr. Trump as disconnected from Americans\u2019 needs, engrossed instead by White House renovation projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe should be on HGTV,\u201d Mr. Obama said, ridiculing Mr. Trump\u2019s focus on applying gold trimmings to the White House. \u201cHe\u2019s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Just gold everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appearance by Mr. Obama, who is also expected to speak at a rally in Detroit later in the day, sets up a rare split-screen between him and Mr. Trump, who is scheduled to appear at a rally in Georgia in the evening, after voting in the afternoon in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voting early on Saturday, Mr. Trump told reporters that Mr. Obama had been a \u201clousy president\u201d and cast the former president\u2019s criticisms as a signal of Republicans\u2019 strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve beaten them,\u201d Mr. Trump said, referring to his victories in 2016 and 2024. \u201cWhen I started, we had a very much weaker Republican Party \u2014 a smaller, weaker Republican Party. And then I ran, and I won.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Trump and Mr. Obama have long had a complicated and tense relationship. Mr. Trump, who succeeded Mr. Obama in office in 2017, for years promoted a racist lie that the former president was not born in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presidents have recently exchanged public criticisms \u2014 though Mr. Trump\u2019s have typically been more frequent, forceful and direct. In June, Mr. Obama said he thought Mr. Trump had an \u201cobsession\u201d with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they also appeared to share a friendly conversation at former President Jimmy Carter\u2019s funeral in 2025. After the ceremony, Mr. Trump told reporters that they \u201cprobably\u201d like each other and just have \u201cdifferent philosophies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ohio, Mr. Obama was joining Dr. Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for Ohio governor, and former Senator Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee for Senate in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Acton\u2019s race has consumed national politics in recent days, after her Republican opponent, Mr. Ramaswamy, aired an ad featuring Dr. Acton\u2019s mother. Dr. Acton says she has not spoken to her mother since she was 12, after her stepfather was charged with raping her. The ad has split Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama assailed Mr. Ramaswamy over the ad, saying there appeared to be \u201cno line\u201d Mr. Ramaswamy would not cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a decency that we should expect out of our public officials,\u201d the former president said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know what\u2019s happened where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that somebody can run an ad like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Acton also addressed the commercial, saying that Mr. Ramaswamy was targeting her family history to \u201csave his struggling campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going to work,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause compassion and decency still matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama and Mr. Trump are presenting starkly different pitches in the final days before the midterms, with their parties locked in bitter battles for control of Congress and statehouses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Trump, who is set to speak in Perry, Ga., on Saturday evening, has been pressing a message that Democrats are dangerous extremists. He has urged voters to pretend he is on the ballot, hoping to activate his party\u2019s base. But polls show his approval rating has plummeted, and Republicans are on the defensive over high prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a rally in Florida on Friday, Mr. Trump falsely accused Democrats of being communists and said a vote for Republicans would be a vote for \u201cmore money in your pockets, bigger paychecks for your families, lower taxes\u201d and less crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama has engaged heavily with midterm races, taping dozens of ads for candidates. But until Saturday, his time on the trail was limited to light campaigning in the spring with James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama made late endorsements over the weekend in Florida, backing David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, and Angie Nixon, the left-wing Democratic Senate nominee, who would be Florida\u2019s first Black senator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama was the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Ohio, which was once seen as a quintessential swing state but has been drifting toward Republicans for years. Democrats have grown increasingly optimistic about their chances in the midterm elections in Ohio, though, as the state\u2019s agriculture-heavy economy has buckled under the weight of the war in Iran and the president\u2019s tariff policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was set to travel next to Detroit to rally with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive Democratic nominee in Michigan\u2019s pivotal Senate race. Dr. El-Sayed has been trying to shore up his support from Black voters. Republicans see his race against Mike Rogers, a Republican former congressman, as their best chance to flip a Senate seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the evening, Mr. Trump will make his appearance in Georgia, a state Mr. Obama plans to visit later in the week. On Sunday, Mr. Trump is set to visit Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Trump has directly addressed Mr. Obama\u2019s trip to Michigan in his own recent remarks and has reminded audiences that he won Michigan in 2016 and 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Obama had challenged Mr. Trump over his policies in recent weeks, if in less scathing terms than he did on Saturday. Last month, he publicly criticized Mr. Trump over his approach to A.I. for the first time, warning that the technology could \u201cdeeply affect our health and our safety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no replacement for an effective, government regulatory structure,\u201d Mr. Obama said at an event in upstate New York. \u201cAnd the challenge we have is that, obviously, we have a president currently that has said that\u2019s for losers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n