Every moment of former President Obama’s speech was a jewel. The gem I’m focusing on here was how he transformed Trump’s anti-American behavior on Jan. 6 into something beyond an attack on democracy and into something concretely personal for us all.
OBAMA: Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and them, between the quote, unquote, real Americans who support him and the outsiders who don’t, because having people divided and angry, he figures, boosts his chances of being elected, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt.
Think about it. Just the other day, we learned that on January 6, a couple years ago, Donald Trump was told that Mike Pence was in the Capitol about 40 feet from an angry mob chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” And his response was, quote, so what?
Obama continued by portraying Trump not as a powerful villain but as an unpresidential man who will treat us all with the same petty callousness.
OBAMA: If Donald Trump does not care that a mob might attack his own vice president, do you think he cares about you?
Obama’s next words filled out the picture. Trump is not only selfish and unpresidential but incompetent and small.
OBAMA: Pennsylvania, we do not need four more years of that. We don’t need four more years of arrogance and bumbling and bluster and division. America is ready to turn the page. We are ready for a better story, one that helps us work together instead of turning against each other. Pennsylvania, we’re ready for a President Kamala Harris.
I’d love to see more like this from Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, too.
Obama: “Having people divided and angry he figures boosts of chances of getting elected. And he doesn’t care who gets hurt … if Donald Trump doesn’t care that a mob might attack his own vice president, do you think he cares about you?” pic.twitter.com/z99JbhiJzu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 10, 2024
