Obama delivers full-throated rebuttal to Trump's presidency
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/07/obama-says-trump-has-pushed-america-to-a-pivotal-moment-810650
Obama delivers full-throated rebuttal to Trump's presidency
In rare public speech, Obama says Trump poses such a threat to America that it forced him to speak out.
By EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE
09/07/2018 12:23 PM EDT
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Barack Obama launched his midterm campaigning Friday at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, arguing that President Donald Trump poses such a threat to America that it forced him to speak out in an unprecedented way for a former president.
"Im here today because this is one of those pivotal moments when every one of us as citizens of the United States need to determine just who we are, what it is that we stand for," Obama said. "As a fellow citizen, not as an ex-president, Im here to deliver a simple message, which is that you need to vote, because our democracy depends on it."
Laying out a brief history of America starting with George Washingtons decision to step out of public life after leaving the presidency Obama framed the 2018 elections as more significant than ever before.
And for the first time since leaving office, he said Trumps name.
It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause, Obama said, to applause. Hes just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years.
Its not just about Trump, he said. Its about Republicans who know better in Congress
bending over backwards to shield Trump. Theyre hypocrites, he said, and theyre just as dangerous to America. At times mocking them and at times laying into them, Obama said theyve abandoned all that theyre supposed to stand for as Republicans, and as citizens of this country.
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