Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Obama Warns Democracy At Stake in DNC Speech – Trump Reacts with Angry Tweets / VIDEO

*In his Democratic National Convention speech Wednesday from Philadelphia’s Museum of the American Revolution, former president Barack Obama pretty laid it all out for voters and urged them to not allow their “cynicism” about government to let those in power to take advantage of them.

“Look, I understand why many Americans are down on government. The way the rules have been set up and abused in Congress make it easy for special interests to stop progress. Believe me, I know. I understand why a white factory worker who’s seen his wages cut or his job shipped overseas might feel like the government no longer looks out for him, and why a Black mother might feel like it never looked out for her at all. I understand why a new immigrant might look around this country and wonder whether there’s still a place for him here; why a young person might look at politics right now, the circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and crazy conspiracy theories and think, what’s the point?” Obama said at the Democratic National Convention.

“Well, here’s the point: this president and those in power – those who benefit from keeping things the way they are – they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can’t win you over with their policies. So they’re hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter. That’s how they win. That’s how they get to keep making decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love. That’s how the economy will keep getting skewed to the wealthy and well-connected, how our health systems will let more people fall through the cracks. That’s how a democracy withers, until it’s no democracy at all,” he continued. “Do not let them take away your power. Do not let them take away your democracy.”

HE MAD! D.L. Hughley on Why Kanye West is the ‘Worst F*cking Kind of Human Being’ [VIDEO]

trump - obama (ap)
Trump – Obama

The man who left office before Donald Trump assumed it also offered a blunt critique of his successor and his performance in the job.

“I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care,” Obama said. “But he never did. He’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.”

Obama’s speech came two days after former First Lady Michelle Obama’s impassioned remarks on Monday, in which she warned that the “chaos” in America would only continue to get worse if Trump was reelected and urged voters to support Joe Biden “like [their] lives depend on it.”

Read the rest of Obama’s speech here. Or WATCH it above.

Needless to say, as Deadline noted, Obama’s comments got under Trump’s skin to the point where tweeted, in all caps, “HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!”

Trump has long made unfounded claims that Obama was behind the FBI investigation of Russian contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian sources in 2016.

He then tweeted, “WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?”

Obama stayed out of the 2020 primary race and did not endorse until the race was all but over.

Obama also used the speech to lay out the case for Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. His remarks were preceded by a video of a moment in early 2017 when Obama awarded Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala’s ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better,” Obama said. “But here’s the thing: no single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president. Democracy was never meant to be transactional – you give me your vote; I make everything better. It requires an active and informed citizenry.”

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING