Obama attacks Trump, Republicans

HICAGO (AFP) – Barack Obama assailed US Republicans Friday for failing to keep President Donald Trump in check, in a forceful return to the political fray aimed at firing up Democratic voters ahead of key elections.

Since leaving office, the 44th US president has pointedly avoided direct criticism of his successor, making a calculated effort not to utter Trump's name. But on Friday the gloves came off. ''What happened to the Republican Party?'' asked Obama, accusing Trump of ''capitalizing'' on ''fear and anger.''

In a nod to the turbulence of the past week – which saw allegations of a secret ''resistance'' working inside the White House – the 57-year-old Obama poured scorn on the idea that ''everything will turn out okay'' because some of Trump's staff are secretly ignoring the boss' orders.

''That's not how our democracy is supposed to work,'' Obama thundered, in reference to the revelations by investigative journalist Bob Woodward whose new book describes Trump's aides battling to rein in an angry, uninformed president.

The Democratic former president assailed Republicans as ''unwilling to find the backbone'' to challenge Trump head-on – accusing them instead of answering ''outrageous'' actions with ''vague statements of disappointment.''

''They're not doing us a service by actively promoting 90 percent of the crazy stuff that's coming out of this White House, and then saying, 'Don't worry, we're preventing the other 10 percent,''' he said.

Obama's remarks to an auditorium of college students in Illinois – the state he represented before he won the White House – marked the opening salvo in a series of campaign stops aimed at boosting fellow Democrats in November's midterm elections, when voters will elect much of Congress and 36 state governorships.