Addressing a public rally to build support for Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, former US President Barack Obama today blasted Donald Trump, saying that the Republican candidate cares only about “his ego, money and status”.
“We are ready for President Kamala Harris. That’s what we want and the good news is Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a leader who has spent her entire life fighting for people who need a champion. Somebody raised in the middle class, worked at McDonald’s while she was in college just to pay her expenses, somebody who believes in the values that built this country. And she is as prepared for the job as any nominee for president has ever been,” he said at the rally in Nevada, praising the 60-year-old leader who has earlier served as US vice president.
Praising the Democratic vice-president nominee, Obama said, “And in the White House, she (Harris) will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota. I love that guy. Tim’s a veteran. He is a teacher, he is a football coach, he is a hunter. Been a great governor, working with Democrats and Republicans to get stuff done. And I just found out he can take vintage trucks apart and put them back together again. You think Donald Trump can do that?”
The former President then slipped in a reference to Jeeves — the timeless valet character created by English author PG Wodehouse. “Do you think Donald Trump has ever changed a tyre in his life? If he gets a flat tyre, he calls Jeeves (and says) ‘Jeeves, change that tyre’. The point is if you elect Kamala and Tim, they won’t be focused on their problems. They are gonna be focused on your problems,” he said. At one point, a section of the crowd started booing at his remarks on Trump. “Do not boo, go,” Obama responded.
The former President said the US had been grappling with price rise following the Covid pandemic. “We know this election is going to be tight and it’s going to be tight because a lot of Americans are still struggling. As a country, we have been through a lot over these last few years. We had a pandemic that wreaked havoc on businesses and communities and then the disruptions from the pandemic caused price hikes and that put a strain on family budgets… So I get why people are looking to shake things up. It’s understandable. What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for people because there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself,” he said.
“I have said it before and I am gonna say it again, Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problem since he rode down that golden escalator nine years ago. He is constantly complaining, and when he is not complaining, he is trying to sell you stuff,” he said.
“He is trying to sell you a Trump Bible. He’s got his name right next to Matthew and Luke. And I will give you one guess where those bibles are made — in China. This is Mr Tough Guy on China except when he can make a few bucks… And the reason he is doing it is because all he cares about is his ego, money and his status. He is not thinking about you. He sees power as nothing more than a means to meet his ends. He wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut, to help mostly him and his country club buddies,” he added.
Obama said Trump wants the US to be hopelessly divided between “us and them”. “Between ‘real Americans’ who obviously support him and anybody who doesn’t because having people divided and angry and resentful and full of grievance boosts his chances of being elected,” he said.
“You would be worried if your grandfather started acting like this. You would call up your brother, cousins and ask, ‘have you seen grandpa lately? what do we do?’ But this is coming from somebody who wants unchecked power, wants the most powerful office on Earth. We don’t need to see what an older, loonier Donald Trump looks like with no guardrails. America is ready to turn the page. We are ready for a better story,” Obama said.
The age reference is significant against the backdrop of the Democrats choosing Harris as their candidate after incumbent President Joe Biden, who was under age scrutiny, opted out of the race. The change has tilted the balance in favour of the Democrats.
Obama said Trump plans to give a massive tax cut to billionaires and big corporations. “I remember the economy when he first came into office, the first two years were pretty good. Yeah, it was good because it was my economy,” he said to loud cheers.
Some of you remember what it was like in Nevada when I came into office. The worst financial crisis in history, the housing market collapsed here in Nevada. I spent eight years cleaning up that mess that the Republicans had left me. And then I handed over to Donald Trump, 75 straight months of job growth and all he did with it was give a tax cut to people who didn’t need it, drove up the deficit in the process and now he wants to do it all over again.”
