Barack Obama has delivered his most scathing attack on Donald Trump, accusing the US president of trying to suppress the vote in November’s election and making the heartfelt plea: “Don’t let them take away your democracy.”
In the most withering critique by a former president on his successor in modern times, Obama said that Trump, a billionaire businessman and celebrity, has not grown into the job of president because he cannot, and instead treats it as a reality TV show. His grave address used the word “democracy” 18 times and offered a stark warning: “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win.”
Obama spoke from the symbolic location of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, with the words “Writing the constitution” displayed on an exhibit wall behind him. The absence of cheering crowds fitted the sombre occasion. He argued that the election is not merely a battle of blue versus red but for the survival of democracy itself: “What we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come.”
Obama noted he had sat in the Oval Office with both men who are running for president and said sardonically he had hoped Trump might “show some interest in taking the job seriously … But he never did.” The consequences, he continued, were 170,000 Americans killed by the coronavirus pandemic, millions of jobs lost while the rich get richer, and “our democratic institutions threatened like never before”.
Obama also lavished praise on his former vice-president Joe Biden and Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris, who that night became the first black person to be formally nominated for vice-president by a major party. “Joe and Kamala have concrete policies that will turn their vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into reality,” he said.
Even as Obama spoke, Trump tweeted angry retorts in all caps. Obama urged Americans to make plans to vote, saying: “Don’t let them take away your power. Don’t let them take away your democracy.”
