Obama attacks Trump’s ‘cruelty and corruption’ as Democrats rally before midterms

Barack Obama has urged Americans to use the 3 November midterm elections to curb Donald Trump’s power, accusing his administration of “chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence” as he campaigned for Democrats in Ohio.

Speaking in Cleveland on Saturday, 24 October, the former president attacked Trump’s handling of living costs and the war in Iran, while backing Democratic candidates in two closely watched statewide contests.

“This election is our last best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration,” Obama told supporters.

Trump offered a sharply different assessment at a rally in Georgia, defending his immigration and tariff policies and declaring that “we’re in the golden age of America”. Early voting is already under way, and the president cast his ballot in Florida on Saturday alongside First Lady Melania Trump.

Living costs and Iran dominate attacks

Obama acknowledged the frustration of voters who rejected Democrats in 2024 over economic conditions and inflation following the Covid pandemic. But he argued that Trump was responsible for the decisions shaping the economy now.

“If you thought everything was too expensive before ‘you know who’,” he said, referring to Trump, “everything is more expensive now”.

He also criticised the Iran war, arguing that the conflict had given Tehran “veto power” over the Strait of Hormuz. His remarks put foreign policy alongside household costs at the centre of his appeal to voters.

Trump acknowledged that oil prices were “temporarily high”, but insisted that the country was growing stronger and that petrol prices would fall. Asked earlier in the day about Iran, he left open both further military action and an agreement.

“I’ve done it very effectively and I may have to finish it off, or maybe they’ll make a deal, but I’m not sure. Either way, we win,” he said.

Ohio candidates share the stage

Obama’s Cleveland appearance supported former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Senator Husted, and Amy Acton, the Democrat running for governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

The former president also condemned a Ramaswamy campaign advert featuring Acton’s estranged mother calling her a liar. Acton, who spoke before Obama, accused her opponent of exploiting her childhood to help his campaign.

“In recent days, we’ve seen there is no line he will not cross. No low he will not sink to try to get in the limelight,” Obama said of Ramaswamy.

Obama mixed those attacks with mockery of Trump’s White House renovations, joking that the president had made the building look “like Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory”.

Control of Congress at stake

The elections will determine which party controls Congress for the remainder of Trump’s term, shaping his ability to carry out his programme.

At his Georgia rally, Trump argued that tariffs were bringing in substantial revenue. According to the BBC, he also repeated a pledge to give every adult American a $5,000 payout if Republicans win both chambers of Congress. That remains a campaign promise, not an announced payment programme.

Obama’s closing argument was that voters need not wait for another presidential election to impose limits on the administration: “You get a chance to say, ‘enough is enough.’”