Former President Barack Obama questioned former President Donald Trump’s “competence” during a Tuesday evening rally on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris in Detroit.
Obama cited the length and tone of Trump’s speeches, saying he would “give two-and-a-half-hour speeches, just word salad. You don’t know what the hell he’s saying.
“Here’s the bottom line, Detroit. If your grandfather behaved like this, you would be worried. You would call your sister, brother, cousin. You’d say, “Let me yell at you.” Have you noticed that Grandpa is acting a little strange? But this is someone who wants unchecked power,” Obama said.
“We don’t need to see what the older, crazier Donald Trump looks like without a railing.”
Obama also held a rally on Tuesday Madison, Wisconsin.with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for vice president. More than 12,000 people attended Trump’s Obama rally at Huntington Place held so last week.
“I heard there was another rally here on Friday night, but it was a little smaller than this one,” Obama said.
While Trump introduced him to Detroit rapper Trick Trick at his rally, Obama was introduced to Eminem.
“As most of you know, the city of Detroit and the entire state of Michigan mean a lot to me. We’re in the spotlight more than ever before the election and I think it’s significant to make our voices heard, so I encourage everyone to get out and vote,” Eminem said.
“I also believe that people shouldn’t be afraid to express their opinions and I don’t think anyone wants an America where people are afraid of retaliation and what people will do if you reveal your opinion,” Eminem said. “I think Vice President Harris supports a future for this country in which these freedoms and many others are protected and respected.”
Obama recited the opening lines of “Lose Yourself” shortly after taking the stage, joking that “I thought Eminem was going to perform. I was going to jump out.”
The two-term Democratic former president asked the audience to imagine that he, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, or U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) stood on stage and swayed to the music for more than 30 minutes, as Trump did at a recent town hall speeches.
“Now I will say that our playlist could be better,” Obama said. “I’d put ‘Lose Yourself’ in there.”
Slotkin, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan who is expected to face former Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), joined Obama on stage during his speech.
Obama recalled briefings he received from Slotkin when she served as intelligence officer during his presidency.
“Elissa, don’t play,” Obama said.
Slotkin said joining Obama at the rally was a “full circle moment.”
“I will also say that he has become a lot more laid back,” Slotkin said. “I saw him in [Democratic National] Convention; he wasn’t wearing socks. He was resting.”
Detroit Lions Hall of Fame recipient Calvin Johnson also spoke at the rally, responding to Trump, pointing to Detroit as an example of the United States as a “third world” nation and arguing that the entire country would be like Detroit if Harris were elected president.
“When I was playing, if someone said something negative about Detroit, I made sure they felt me on Sunday,” Johnson said. “So Detroit, let’s make sure Trump feels us at the ballot box on Election Day.”
Johnson is part of the group Athletes for Harris. NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson he said earlier at a rally with Harris in Flint.
Trump partially he’s back his comments at last week’s rally in the city in which he predicted a “stunning resurgence for Detroit” if he is successful in seeking a second term.
Obama has repeatedly stressed the importance of voting, emphasizing the different options people have to cast a ballot. Early in-person voting is now underway in Detroit and begins in the rest of the state on October 26.
As of Tuesday, Detroit voters had returned 59,474 of the 108,649 absentee ballots requested, according to data from the secretary of state.
“Whether this election makes you excited, fearful, hopeful, frustrated, or anything in between, don’t sit back and hope for the best,” Obama said. “I know I’m a hopeful man, but don’t just hope. Get off the couch and vote! Put down your phone and vote!”
Both the Trump and Harris campaigns encouraged voters to cast ballots earlier this year — though this is a marked change in rhetoric for Trump, who spread multiple false conspiracy theories about mail-in voting in 2020.
Obama discussed the pro-Trump protests at the Huntington Center — which was renamed the TCF Center in 2020 — as the result was tabulation of mail-in ballots.
A court filing filed earlier this month by special counsel Jack Smith alleges that a member of Trump’s campaign staff said he was going to “incite a riot.”
“One of the most disturbing things about this election, about Trump’s rise in politics, is that so many of us, even good people we know, suddenly seem willing to put aside the values we were taught,” Obama said.
“No matter what your position on an issue is, why would you agree to it? If your co-workers behave this way, they won’t be your co-workers for long. If you had a family member who behaved this way, you might still love them, but you wouldn’t give them responsibility for anything. You wouldn’t trust them,” Obama said.
“Yet when Donald Trump lies, cheats or shows complete disregard for our Constitution, when he calls soldiers who die in battle ‘losers,’ when he calls his fellow citizens ‘worms,’ we justify it. We act like it’s okay, at least those who say they support them are. They say, “Well, he’s just joking, or it’s not that serious, or as long as we win, that’s how politics is done.” No, it’s not.”
Obama argued that progress is gradual but that voting can directly impact your life, citing the 50 million people who have signed up for health care under the Affordable Care Act, one of his administration’s landmark policy achievements.
“Everyone here, everyone in this audience, knows someone who wouldn’t have health insurance if it weren’t for this bill,” Obama said.
When an audience member shouted, “Thanks, Obama!” the former president replied: “No, no, look, I’m not doing that. I use this as an example to say that a little change for the better makes a difference.”
Obama also cited the Covid-19 pandemic as an example, which “no one talks about anymore and I don’t know why we don’t talk about it.”
He said as many as 600,000 American deaths could have been avoided if Trump had followed the pandemic “playbook” developed by his administration while monitoring the H1N1 virus and Ebola virus.
“I handed him this textbook and I guess he just threw it in the trash can,” Obama said.
“Some of these people could be alive if we had a competent president who actually pays attention and does his homework and actually tries to make things better, rather than telling people, ‘Go ahead and inject the bleach.’ This could work,” Obama said.
Obama also took credit for Trump’s economic success in the first months of his successor’s term.
“I talked to people all over the country. Sometimes I hear people say, “Well, yes, I know Trump is a little goofy, but I remember the economy when he first came out. She was pretty good,” Obama said. “And I say, ‘Yes, it was good because it was my economy.’ I know you all remember this. I know people in Detroit remember that. I spent eight years cleaning up the mess the Republicans left me.
“Before I left office, I handed Donald Trump 75 months of continuous job growth,” Obama added. “Yes, the economy was good because we did the work.”
Obama said he also heard from some voters that they supported Trump because “he seems tough.”
“I’m here to tell you that that’s not where real strength lies. This has never been the case. The real strength is in the hard work, in the fact that all these guys show up every day at the factory and work their butts off to support their families. That’s real power,” Obama said. “Real strength is taking responsibility for your actions and honoring your responsibilities. True strength lies in speaking the truth, even when it is inconvenient.”
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