Obama breaks silence, Trump not impressed
Ending months of selfimposed restraint, former president Barack Obama delivered a blistering critique of President Donald Trump and Republican politics Friday, one that prompted a back-handed dismissal by the man who now occupies the Oval Office.
Over the course of an hour-long address, Obama left little doubt about the severity of his concerns over Trump’s approach, which he referred to obliquely as “this political darkness.”
He compared Trump to foreign demagogues who exploit “a politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment,” appeal to racial nationalism and then plunder their countries while promising to fight corruption.
“This is not normal. These are extraordinary times, and they are dangerous times,” Obama said during the speech at the University of Illinois Ur- bana- Champaign. “But here is the good news: In two months we have the chance — not the certainty but the chance — to restore some semblance of sanity to our politics.”
Minutes after his predecessor unleashed his strongest repudiation yet, Trump responded jocularly.
“I’m sorry I watched it, but I fell asleep,” he said. “I found he’s very good. Very good for sleeping.”
Later, Trump returned to the sentiment during an event in Fargo, N.D.
“Isn’t this much more exciting than listening to President Obama speak?” he asked the crowd.
The back and forth between the two titular figures of American politics — each with an unparalleled capacity to both attract his party’s voters and energize the opposition — signaled a dramatic escalation ahead of November elections for the House, Senate and other seats.
Obama, kicking off weeks of voter turnout efforts, argued that his aim was not to get into a presidential spitting match, but to convince voters across the ideological spectrum that the conditions that gave rise to Trump’s election were a pressing threat and must be battled directly.
“It did not start with Donald Trump,” Obama said. “He is a symptom, not the cause.”
That did not stop him from denouncing what he saw as actions Trump had taken to undermine American progress.
Beyond Trump, Republicans reacted sharply to the speech, arguing that Obama’s decision to return to the political arena could work in their favor.
“The more President @ BarackObama speaks about the ‘good ole years’ of his presidency, the more likely President @realDonaldTrump is to get reelected,” tweeted Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
“In fact, the best explanation of President Trump’s victory are the ‘results’ of the Obama Presidency!”