■ Obama hosts drive-thru rally,
Former president urges Florida voters to turn out for Biden
Former President Barack Obama delivered stinging rebuke of his character and performance during a South Florida campaign stop on Saturday, pivoted to praise for Joe Biden, then returned to mocking Donald Trump as weak and thin skinned.
Besides offering detailed criticism on critical issues of the coronavirus and the economy and ridiculing Trump’s foibles, Obama said the times are serious— and he implored Floridians to vote. The Miami-Dade County visit, on the first weekend day of early voting in Florida, was only the second Obama campaign swing of the fall campaign — illustrating high stakes in the ultra close contest in the Sunshine State.
For his fans, Obama delivered, peppering his speech with references important to Florida voters andwith updated comments on developments this week in the Trump-Biden presidential contest.
Obama suggested that attacks on Biden being deployed in South Florida are ridiculous. “Listening to the Republicans, you’d think Joe was more communist than the Castros. Don’t fall for that garbage,” he said. Given Biden’s long public life, “I think folks would know if he was a secret socialist.”
And he spoke to the growing number of Puerto Ricans who live and vote in Florida.
“When a hurricane devastates Puerto Rico, a president is supposed to help it rebuild, not toss paper towels and withhold billions of dollars in aid until just before an election,” Obama said, faulting Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria in 2017.
He pointed to news accounts that suggested Trump mused about selling Puerto Rico. But, he said, things could be even worse, pointing to reports Trump asked if a nuclear device could be used to stop hurricanes. “At least he didn’t do that. A nuclear hurricane seems as if it would have been bad,” Obama said, adding that Trump’s foibles would be funny if the consequences weren’t so serious.
His most scorching criticism concerned the coronavirus. Obama said Trump bungled the response fromthe beginning and still doesn’t have a plan as the pandemic continues and the nation is seeing a new spike in numbers.
“He doesn’t have a plan. He doesn’t even acknowledge the reality of what’s taking place all across the country,” Obama said. “Donald T rump isn’t going to protect all of us. He can’t even take the basic steps to protect himself.” He added that Trump has done nothing “other than screw this thing up” — and offer suggestions such as people injecting themselves with bleach.
Onthe economy, he said Trump is claiming credit for pre-pandemic trends that he inherited. “He wants full credit for the economy he inherited and zero blame for the pandemic he ignored,” Obama said. The only people who are better off under Trump are billionaires who got tax cuts.
The Biden campaign has increasingly turned to drive-in car rallies for socially distanced events during the coronavirus — Biden held one in Miramar on Oct. 13 — where horn-honking takes the place of applause. Saturday’s event attracted some 280 cars and 400 people, the Biden campaign said.
Another concession to the pandemic came at the end of Obama’s 47-minutes on stage. There was no hand-shaking by the former president.
Obama’s visit was part of the Biden campaign’s effort to increase enthusiasm and get every potential voter from key voting blocs to the polls in Florida. Obama was deployed strategically. His main event was a drive-in car rally at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay campus in North Miami, a city with a large Haitian American population.
Earlier, Obama stopped at a Biden campaign office in Miami Springs, which has a large Hispanic population. A handful of volunteers were about to start door-to-door canvassing.
Some of the biggest crowd-pleasers at the drive-in rally came from Obama’s mocking of Trump. Trump has had a tough week, Obama said, his voice tinged with sarcasm and faux concern. “Everybody’s been very unfair to Donald Trump thisweek.”
Trump isn’t anywhere near as tough as he makes himself out to be and his supporters believe, Obama said, repeatedly pointing to Trump taking offense at questions from a TV interviewer. “When ’60 Minutes’ and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain’t all that tough,” he said. “If you have to walk out of a ’60 Minutes’ interview, then you’re never going to stand up to a dictator.”
Trump’s behavior is so bizarre that it wouldn’t be tolerated in any workplace or in any family, Obama said. “Florida Man wouldn’t even do this stuff. Why are we accepting it from the president of the United States? It’s not, it’s not normal behavior.” Florida Man is the mocking name applied to the person who does the crazy things the state has such a reputation for. “You shake your head and you think, ‘That’s just him,’ but there are consequences.’”
For its part, the Trump campaign said the president— who voted for himself Saturday morning in West Palm Beach— is on a roll toward re-election, and Obama’s campaigning for Biden wouldn’t do anything to stop it.
“Sending Barack Obama to the Sunshine State will do nothing to stop President Trump’s looming reelection. Floridians know Joe Biden has no answers for his 47-year failed career, which is why they will vote to re-elect President Trump and his ‘Promises Made, Promises Kept’ agenda,” Trump Victory Florida spokeswoman Emma Vaughn said in a prepared statement.