PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania – During Vice President Kamala Harris' first campaign campaign, former President Barack Obama repeatedly targeted former President Trump on Thursday at a large rally in perhaps the most important battleground state for the 2024 election.
With less than four weeks left until Election Day and early voting already underway in many parts of the country, President Obama pointed out the margin of error contest between Harris and Trump. “The election is going to be close because there will be a lot of races.” About the Americans who are still struggling there. ”
“What I don't understand is how anyone could think that Donald Trump is going to change things for the better for Pennsylvania,” the former president insisted, to cheers from the crowd.
Referring to polls showing that many Americans think the economy was better during Trump's four years in the White House than under the current administration, President Obama said, “Some people… “The reason I think “times were good'' is because my economy was like that.'' The 75 consecutive months of work growth I gave him was not his doing. ”
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Former President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event supporting Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on October 10, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Reuters/Quinn Grabicki (Reuters/Quinn Grabicki)
“In case your memory is fuzzy…he didn't do anything other than massive tax cuts,” he said, claiming that President Obama only benefited wealthy Americans and big corporations.
Obama, who remains hugely popular with Democrats eight years after leaving the White House, insisted there was “no evidence whatsoever that this man cares about anyone but himself.”
“Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has been complaining about his problems ever since he rode the golden escalator nine years ago,” he said.
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President Obama said President Trump “constantly tries to sell us things. Who does that? Gold sneakers, $100,000 watches, and most recently, Trump's Bible… You can't make this stuff up.” If you saw it on Saturday Night Live, you'd say, “That's too much.” Well, he's doing it, it's crazy. ”
And President Obama said, “We don't need a president who makes problems worse just to make his own political situation better. We need a president who actually cares about solving problems and making people's lives better.'' , that's what Kamala Harris will do.” ”
During the rally, President Obama also spoke about masculinity and had a message for male voters who may be attracted to President Trump's strength.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Riverfront Sports on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024 in Scranton, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Julia Demarie Nikinson) (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nickinson)
“True strength is helping those in need and always standing up for those who can't stand up for themselves. That's what we should want for our daughters and sons.”
“That's what I want from the president of the United States,” he said.
Asked for a response, Trump campaign national affairs spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt told Fox News: “If anyone cared about what Obama said, Hillary Clinton would have been president.”
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It's no surprise that Pittsburgh was chosen as President Obama's first destination. The state, Pennsylvania's largest city and Democratic stronghold, is the biggest prize among the seven key battleground states that narrowly clinched President Biden's victory over President Trump in 2020 and is the biggest prize in the 2024 election. The outcome is likely to determine whether Harris or Trump wins.
A crowd listens to former President Barack Obama's speech at the University of Pittsburgh's Fitzgerald Fieldhouse on October 10, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Obama is not the only former Democratic president to campaign on behalf of his vice president.
The Harris campaign said former President Bill Clinton, the longtime governor of Arkansas before being elected and re-elected to the White House, will be in parts of Georgia on Sunday and Monday, then later in the week for a bus tour. He announced that he was heading to North Carolina. .
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This is part of Clinton's efforts to reach rural voters in two key battleground states in the Southeast.
President Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, formally endorsed Harris as a presidential candidate in July, five days after President Biden ended his 2024 re-election bid in a major announcement.
The former president endorsed Harris in a headline speech at the Democratic National Convention in his hometown of Chicago in August, saying she was “ready for the job.”
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama appear on stage between speeches during the second night of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll) Call, Inc (via Getty Images) (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
Harris and Obama's friendship goes back 20 years, when they met on a campaign trail when Harris was running for the Illinois Senate. And Harris was an early supporter of his 2008 presidential campaign, even knocking on doors for him in Iowa ahead of the caucuses, the Harris campaign noted.
Thursday's rally was Obama's first appearance as a delegate at a presidential campaign event, according to a Harris aide, who also said she was the main attraction for Obama, including headlining her biggest fundraiser in Los Angeles last month. He is said to have helped raise $80 million for Democratic candidates.
Obama aides and the Harris campaign say the rally in Pittsburgh is the first of many coordinated “get out the vote” efforts the former president has staged around the country in the final stages of his 2024 White House campaign. There is.
They added that President Obama will sign additional fundraising emails, record candidate-specific ads and make robocalls for down-ballot races.
Hours before Mr. Obama arrived in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey announced his party would release a new ad featuring the former president in the most important Senate race that will determine whether it retains its majority in the chamber. He became a new Democrat.
Mr. Casey introduced the former president at the rally, and the former president praised the senator multiple times.
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