Former President Barack Obama on Saturday attacked President Donald Trump’s administration in searing and mocking terms, saying it was defined by “incompetence the likes of which we have not seen in modern times.”
Appearing in Cleveland at his first campaign rally of the midterm elections, Obama delivered his most forceful attack on Trump in recent memory. He also criticized an explosive campaign ad from the Republican nominee for Ohio governor, Vivek Ramaswamy, saying it exemplified a coarsening of American politics.
Hours later, Obama was in Detroit, denouncing what he said was the “foolishness” of the Trump administration. As Obama was speaking in Michigan, Trump took the stage at his own rally in Perry, Georgia, creating a rare split-screen between the two presidents. Trump said his accomplishments eclipsed those of his predecessors and falsely claimed that Obama had spoken to an “empty” venue in Michigan.
Obama, who has been selective about publicly criticizing Trump, condemned his Republican successor’s stewardship of the country in language that was personal and pointed. He said in Ohio that Trump’s second term had amounted to “two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption,” argued that top administration officials were not “not serious people” and said Trump had led the country into an economically painful war in Iran “that nobody asked for.”
Obama, describing Trump as “you know who” or “this guy in the White House,” said America had never had a president “excel so wildly at just straight-up grifting.” And he cast Trump as disconnected from Americans’ needs, engrossed instead by White House renovation projects.
Trump told reporters that Obama had been a “lousy president” and cast the former president’s remarks as a signal of Republicans’ strength. “We’ve beaten them,” Trump said, referring to his victories in 2016 and 2024.
In Michigan, Obama appeared to nod to Trump’s questioning of his place of birth as he spoke about Republicans’ efforts to cast doubt on the patriotism of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee, who would be the first Muslim senator if elected.
“We have seen this movie before: I starred in it,” said Obama. “This stuff didn’t work on me. Not in Michigan. It’s not going to work on Abdul. Abdul’s as Michigan as it gets.”
In Ohio, Obama was joining Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, and former Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee for Senate.
Acton’s Republican opponent, Ramaswamy, aired an ad this past week featuring Acton’s mother. Acton says she has not spoken to her mother since she was 12, after her stepfather was charged with raping her.
Obama assailed Ramaswamy over the ad, saying there appeared to be “no line” Ramaswamy would not cross. Acton also addressed the commercial, saying that Ramaswamy was targeting her family history to “save his struggling campaign.”
A spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign argued in a statement that Obama had left America “more divided than ever” and suggested that Acton was not qualified to be governor.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.