Former President Barack Obama made a passionate case against Donald Trump on Thursday during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in which he appealed directly to men to reject Trump’s bravado and back Vice President Kamala Harris.
Obama has been a vocal supporter of Harris since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden stepped aside in July following a poor debate performance against Trump, the Republican former president.
Obama, whose White House term ended in 2017, is still popular with his party’s base. The rally he headlined at the University of Pittsburgh, held while Harris spent the day campaigning in Nevada and Arizona, is the first of several events he plans to do in coming weeks in battleground states which are likely to decide the election.
In remarks that lambasted Trump both for his character and his policy proposals, Obama zeroed in on male voters, a constituency Harris has struggled to win over.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen. I’ve noticed this especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior, the bullying, and the putting people down is a sign of strength. I am here to tell you that is not what real strength is,” he said.
“Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters and for our sons.”
Bill Clinton, like Obama a two-term Democratic president, as well as a former Arkansas governor, will make stops in Georgia on Sunday and Monday before traveling to North Carolina for a bus tour later in the week in an effort to reach rural voters.
Obama’s event on a college campus was also aimed in part at attracting younger voters.
Youth are a critical part of the coalition that the Harris campaign hopes will propel her to victory. But voter registration among young people in 34 states is down compared with four years ago, according to data updated in September from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University.
The number of people between the ages of 18 and 29 registered to vote in Pennsylvania in September was 15% lower than it was on election day in 2020, the center’s data showed.
“I understand why certain younger people feel discouraged and maybe not as passionate about politics or an interest in voting,” said rally attendee AJ Herzog, 27, citing the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“I think people feel, like, hopeless in certain cases where no matter who they vote for, it’s a lot of the same. But I do think there is more opportunity for change with Kamala Harris as president than there is going back to Donald Trump.”
Obama’s engagement could help get young people motivated in the campaign’s final stretch. The former president has sought to serve as a closer for Democratic candidates before, with events for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and for Biden in 2020, especially at the end of the election cycle when early voting had begun, as it has now.
The Trump campaign dismissed Obama’s remarks and influence.
“If anyone cared about what Obama says, Hillary Clinton would’ve been president,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt.
