Former President Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail ahead of November's contentious midterm elections, blasting President Donald Trump and Ohio gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy and backing Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
The results of the Nov. 3 election will decide control of Congress, and Obama took to the campaign trail for rallies in Ohio and Michigan as the pivotal date approaches. He focused mostly on Trump, calling his second term "two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence." He also jabbed Trump's White House renovations, including his controversial ballroom.
"He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory," Obama said. "There's gold everywhere."
Obama's
involvement comes as El-Sayed, the progressive insurgent in Michigan, is locked in a bitter battle with former seven-term Rep. Mike Rogers, who has courted Black voters in the state.
Meanwhile, Democrats are responding to an ad from Ramaswamy's campaign that features the mother of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dr. Amy Acton criticizing her daughter. Acton, the state's former health director, was removed from her mother's care after her stepfather was charged with rape for sexually abusing her, and the ad has sparked a fight in the state and across the country.
Obama won Ohio and Michigan during both of his presidential bids in 2008 and 2012, but the states swung right to Trump in 2024 amid former Vice President Kamala Harris' 107-day campaign and voter concerns about the economy and Democratic messaging.
Now Trump is on defense over the economy. Americans' disapproval of his handling of the cost of living, the price of gasoline and more has dragged down his approval rating, multiple polls show.
"When you've worked as many elections as I have, you can tell when an election comes along that just feels a little bit different," Obama said of the midterms.
"An election where people are so ready for something new, so hungry for something better, so sick and tired of being sick and tired that everywhere you go it feels like change is in the air," he continued.
Ramaswamy spokesperson Connie Luck told USA TODAY in a statement "Obama and his liberal media allies are desperate to shield the least qualified candidate for governor in Ohio history, but we're confident voters will see right through it." Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur, has never held public office.
USA TODAY has reached out to the White House for comment on Obama's remarks.
'There's a decency that we should expect'
The Ramaswamy campaign released an ad last week featuring Acton's estranged mother Donna Arthur calling her daughter "a liar." But Acton said she hasn't seen Arthur since she was 12 following years of neglect and abuse. Acton's stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was charged with rape in 1978 for sexually abusing her.
At the Cleveland rally, Obama slammed Ramaswamy for running the ad. But the former GOP presidential candidate's campaign has doubled down, saying it would spend $4 million to run the spot through Election Day.
"In recent days we've seen there is no line he will not cross. There is no low he will not sink to," Obama said. He added, "There's a decency that we should expect out of our public officials and I don't know what's happening where the standards of behavior have gotten so low."
Acton served as the director of the Ohio Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic under Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who also criticized Ramaswamy's ad. Trump has defended the ad − and hit back at Republicans who have targeted it.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has rated the governor's race "lean Democratic," which favors Acton.
A crucial Ohio Senate race between former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who hopes to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted, could help decide the Senate majority for both parties.
Brown has long hedged his political messaging on the "dignity of work," a slogan and platform of priorities made to appeal to the state's manufacturing industry, Ohio's largest sector.
Former president invokes Michelle Obama in defense of El-Sayed
Later in the day, Obama headed to Detroit for a rally with El-Sayed, a public health director like Acton who formerly oversaw operations in Wayne County, home to Detroit. Obama also backed Michigan's gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson.
Over a decade ago, the progressive El-Sayed was critical of the former Democratic president's White House tenure, but he has since applauded Obama for his coalition building in Michigan.
"I want to talk about this. Some of these folks say 'Well, Abdul didn't like some of the things you did as president.' Let me tell you something: We are not going to agree on every detail of every issue," Obama said.
"You know who else doesn't agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama," he continued, referring to the former first lady, now a podcast host and author. "I'd say about five times a day."
El-Sayed has struggled with outreach to the Black community from the outset of his Democratic primary campaign, the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network reported, as Rogers seeks inroads with Black voters ahead of November.
Obama also responded to Republican criticism about El-Sayed's positions, such as his support for Medicare for All.
"Wanting everybody to have health care. How is that radical? Wanting everyone to have a place to live that they can afford. How is that radical?" Obama said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama blasts Trump, Ramaswamy while midterm campaign barnstorming
