Former US president Barack Obama on Saturday delivered scathing criticisms of his successor, US President Donald Trump, at rallies in Ohio and Michigan to support Democratic candidates ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Democrats are attempting to wrest back control of one or both chambers of the US Congress, which are currently controlled by Trump’s Republican Party.
The former president retains considerable popularity among the Democratic base, which he is keen to leverage to support his party’s candidates.
Photo: AP
In both states, the 65-year-old former president blamed the Trump administration for the rising cost of living, a top voter concern amid soaring fuel prices.
“The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions,” Obama said in Ohio, where he rallied in support of former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown.
“Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for,” Obama said.
“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,’” he said in Cleveland. “We are voting for change right here in Ohio.”
Later, in Michigan, Obama campaigned for Abdul el-Sayed, from the party’s left wing, who is in a close race with Republican Mike Rogers for the US Senate.
“Imagine the power duo of Abdul and Elissa,” Obama said, referring to Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin, who is not up for election 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,” he added.
Obama also urged voters to cast their ballots as soon as possible since early voting is already open in both states.
“Don’t procrastinate, don’t equivocate,” Obama said.
In Ohio, Brown will attempt a comeback against incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted, while the race for governor will be contested between Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate in 2024.
Polls for Ohio give Democrats a slight lead in both those races, but the results are expected to be close.
Obama also took digs at Trump’s renovation projects across the US capital, including his botched renovation of the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool, his construction of a massive White House ballroom and the gilded decorations he has adorned the Oval Office with during his second tenure.
“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,” Obama said, referring to popular, but indulgent US restaurant chain.
Nationally, polls also suggest that Democrats could regain control of the US House of Representatives, but face a much more competitive contest for the Senate.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY: While Typhoon Champi might weaken, officials warned about large waves, while some transport services and tourist spots have been affected Typhoon Champi is forecast to have the greatest effect on Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, with a sea warning issued late last night and a land warning expected afternoon today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm’s projected track has shifted slightly westward and it could begin moving away from Taiwan toward Japan’s Kyushu island on Saturday, with the warnings potentially lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. As of yesterday afternoon, Champi was about 910km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, CWA data showed. Its maximum sustained winds had weakened slightly to
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday urged China not to exploit typhoons to assert jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. The CGA issued the remarks after it found that China was shadowing eight Japan Coast Guard ships that sheltered in Taiwan proper’s western waters due to Typhoon Champi. Eight Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels sailed southward along the Taiwan Strait median line from 6am on Thursday, reaching waters southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei Island (七美島), outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the territorial sea baseline, it said. As the Japanese ships prepared for the typhoon, they were followed by
STAY CAUTIOUS: Rain is expected to begin easing this afternoon, but a CWA forecaster said that if the storm stalls or loops on its approach, heavy winds are likely Typhoon Champi, which caused widespread damage and injuries, and prompted road closures and evacuations across Taiwan yesterday, is expected to continue to bring heavy rain this morning, with up to 900mm of rain forecast for mountainous areas of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was packing gusts of about 191kph near its center as of 8:30pm, the CWA said. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung; and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin
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