Obama condemns Trump’s “cruelty and corruption” at Ohio rally

Former US president Barack Obama criticised President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and governance at a Democratic campaign rally in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday.

Speaking to an audience of Ohio voters, the 65‑year‑old Democrat said the current president “chose to make a series of bad decisions”, adding that Trump “started an unnecessary war that nobody asked for”, referring to the US‑Israel conflict with Iran.

Obama urged voters to reject “two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence” and described the upcoming November 3 mid‑term election as a chance to say “enough is enough”. He later travelled to Detroit, Michigan, to support Senate candidate Abdul El‑Sayed and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, framing the vote as a “circuit breaker” to curb what he called Trump’s “foolishness”.

At the Detroit rally Obama accused the Trump administration of “grifting on your dime” and claimed the Republican Party “seems to stand for corrupt government, or inept government, or no government”. He also warned that the Iran conflict has given Tehran greater economic leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, affecting global oil shipments.

The former president shared the stage with Ohio’s former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown and campaigner Acton, who spoke about her childhood abuse. Obama defended El‑Sayed against criticism of his Muslim faith, stating “Abdul shares my values”.

Source: Al Jazeera. Photo: Allen Beilschmidt sr. / Pexels.