Former President Barack Obama has railed against the Trump administration on a range of issues, including dragging the United States into “an unnecessary war” against Iran, as he campaigned for Democrats in Ohio and Michigan ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
Speaking at rallies on Saturday, Obama accused President Donald Trump of “chaos and corruption”, as he urged voters to reject Republicans.
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The speeches came just 10 days before the elections, with Senate and gubernatorial races taking place in both states.
Here are the key takeaways:
Obama blames Trump’s Iran war for rising fuel prices
“The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions,” Obama said in Cleveland, Ohio, where he rallied in support of former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
“Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for,” Obama said.
The former president defended the 2015 nuclear agreement reached under his administration, which restricted Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
“Iran didn’t have nuclear weapons because I had put a deal in place that everybody acknowledged kept them from getting nukes, and I didn’t have to fire a missile to do it. I just had to engage in diplomacy,” Obama said.
“He pulled out of it, starts this war.”
Obama blamed the conflict for rising oil and diesel prices, citing attacks on US military bases, American casualties and disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Our allies and our bases have been attacked. Americans have been killed, hundreds of Americans have been wounded. We have run down our stock of missiles, and Iran now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz where oil goes through to the world market,” he said.
The disruptions in oil flow through the strait, located between Iran and Oman, have pushed up energy prices worldwide. Before the war, a fifth of global oil and gas passed through the strait, which Iran has used as leverage in the war.
“This is the reason why the price of oil is up … This is the reason the price of diesel is up.”
The spike in diesel and petrol prices will likely cost the Republican Party, as the majority of Americans hold Trump responsible for starting the war and the subsequent increase in prices.
Obama also mocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his focus on military culture and the Pentagon’s plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Hasan, convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009.
“These are not serious people,” Obama said.
Tariffs are making life more expensive for Americans
Obama criticised Trump’s tariffs, saying Americans were paying more for goods, including products made in the US using imported parts.
“When you impose tariffs, consumers pay the tab,” he said.
“It’s not just the goods that you use directly that have been imported … It’s also the car you build here in America. They might need a part from somewhere else, and now suddenly there’s a tariff on it.”
He questioned Trump’s trade dispute with Canada, a major US trading partner.
The two countries have been locked in a trade dispute, with Trump threatening 50 percent tariffs on Canadian vehicles and auto parts from January 2027.
“And the big trade war he’s starting now is with that well-known evil empire Canada,” Obama said sarcastically.
“Canadians are the nicest people … they’re like our friendly neighbours to the north, and he’s like picking a fight with them.”
Obama also pointed to the growing US national debt, which has reached $40 trillion.
“Instead of bringing down deficits like he said with these tariffs, we’re now running a debt to the tune of $40 trillion.”
The figure refers to the total federal debt, which has accumulated over successive administrations, rather than the annual budget deficit.
Charges of corruption and enriching the wealthy
Obama accused the Trump administration of favouring wealthy Americans while common households struggled with rising costs.
“After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in the modern era, you get a chance to say, ‘Enough is enough,'” Obama declared. “We are voting for change right here in Ohio.”
He pointed to Trump’s 2025 tax and spending legislation, which extended tax cuts while reducing federal spending on programmes including Medicaid and food assistance.
“The only bill they passed of any significance in the last two years was a trillion-dollar tax break that mostly benefitted the richest Americans,” he said.
Obama also took aim at Trump’s White House renovations, including plans for a ballroom, changes to the Rose Garden and the addition of gold decorations.
“He seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV,” Obama joked.
“He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory, just gold everywhere.”
Obama condemns Trump’s immigration crackdown
The former president said the US needed secure borders but criticised the methods used by immigration agents under the Trump administration.
“I believe that we do need to make sure that our border is orderly and secure and that people who want to come here do so lawfully,” he said.
“But I don’t recall anybody campaigning on sending masked agents running through our streets. I don’t recall anybody talking about law-abiding citizens being arrested, detained, or shot.”
“That’s not what we have to do to get our borders under control,” he added.
Obama attacks Ramaswamy over controversial Amy Acton advertisement
In Ohio, Obama criticised Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over a campaign advertisement featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.
The advertisement features Acton’s mother questioning her honesty and her account of her childhood, without mentioning the allegations of sexual abuse that led to their separation decades ago.
It has drawn criticism from Republicans, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, although Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended it.
Obama condemned Ramaswamy’s decision to use Acton’s family history in the campaign.
“There’s got to be something inside you where you just say, you know, no office is worth stooping that low,” he said.
He also praised Acton’s career in public service and urged Ohio voters to support her on November 3.
Obama urges Michigan voters to back El-Sayed and Benson
In Detroit, Obama campaigned for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and gubernatorial contender Jocelyn Benson.
He praised El-Sayed’s Michigan roots and criticised his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, over his support for the US-Israel war on Iran and Trump’s trade policies.
“Abdul is as Michigan as it gets,” Obama said, referring to his upbringing in the state, his family’s ties to the auto industry and his involvement in school sports.
Obama also spoke about attacks on El-Sayed’s Muslim identity, comparing them with false claims about his own religion and birthplace during his presidential campaigns.
“Unlike Mike Rogers, Abdul hasn’t spent months cheerleading the Iran war … or called these tariffs ‘masterful’.”
The former president pushed back against those who call El-Sayed a “radical”, declaring that “Abdul shares my values”.
Obama also praised Benson for standing by Michigan’s 2020 election results despite threats and protests outside her home.
“When armed protesters showed up outside her home in 2020, demanded she overturn Michigan’s fair and free election results, Jocelyn stood her ground, stood up for you and your rights,” he said.
Obama calls midterms a ‘circuit breaker’ against Trump
Obama said the midterm elections offered voters a chance to limit Trump’s power during the remaining two years of his presidency.
“This election is our last best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration,” he said. “It’s the circuit breaker in the system. We need to flip that circuit breaker.”
He also warned that dishonesty, intimidation and bullying were becoming accepted in US politics.
“We are not going to fix the economic system or the political system … so long as we’ve got a culture where anything goes and where people in the highest offices in the land think it’s OK to lie and cheat and bully,” he said.
“What we are missing in our public discourse is just basic decency.”