Obama urges voters to mobilise against the ‘politics of fear’

On Friday, the former president castigated President Trump and the Republican Party over its brand of politics at a public appearance at the University of IL at Urbana-Champaign.

‘It shouldn’t be Democratic or Republican to say we don’t target groups of people on how they look like. “He is a symptom, not a cause”. Trump also bashed Obama for trying to take credit for the US’ recent economic success, marked by record low unemployment and modest wage growth. “He’s just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years”.

Trump aides were allegedly concerned about the effect Obama’s speech would have on President Trump, with Politico reporting there are fears from the Trump camp that Obama would get inside the president’s head ahead of midterm elections.

John McCain, Obama delivered a speech seen as a jab at Trump.

Pence says Obama rolled out “the same exhausted arguments that he and liberals have made over the last eight years”.

When that happens, he says, people become cynical and decide not to participate in the political process – creating a vacuum that lobbyists and special interests fill.

“You can be the generation that at a critical moment stood up and reminded us just how precious this experiment in democracy really is, just how powerful it can be when we fight for it, when we believe in it”, he said”.

Todd Domke, an independent political analyst, said Obama has been waiting to pounce and yesterday was the moment.

While Obama has endorsed candidates and appeared at fundraising events, he has previously spent much of his post-presidency on the political sidelines.

Six of the seven Democratic congressional candidates the rally is being held on behalf of were in attendance.

Obama also addressed Trump’s tone-deaf comments past year, when the president claimed that there were “some very fine people on both sides” during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that saw white supremacists squaring off against anti-racism protesters. “We’re supposed to stand up to bullies”.

He said stakes were high not just for Democrats but for all Americans, as “people feel scared” about a litany of issues: a troubled healthcare system, high costs of education, warming climate and more. “If I was the Republicans, I would be very nervous about this”.

“Donald Trump is one of the biggest threats to our democracy?”

The speech was a preview of the argument that Mr Obama is likely to make until the U.S. midterm elections in November.

Obama’s criticism extended beyond Trump, to the party he now leads, the Republican-led Congress and members of his Administration.

“There are people out there right now that are counting on us to make sure they still have health care after this election”, Obama said. “Barack Obama wasn’t ready for America”, said Bongino.

“I think Democrats, no party preference and moderate Republicans long for the day of ‘no drama Obama, ‘ instead of the current president”, Rouda said.

Trump has consistently used Obama as a foil on Twitter to energize his voters, while Democratic incumbent senators are struggling for reelection in states where Obama has never been particularly popular.