Former President Barack Obama tore into President Donald Trump during a rally in Ohio on Saturday, accusing the Trump administration of engaging in open “corruption.” And, judging by the crowd’s reaction, Obama gave the world a clear sign that Team Trump and the GOP are in big trouble in the midterms.
Barack Obama Is Back
The former president spoke to a crowd of Democrats in Ohio on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and former senator Sherrod Brown ahead of their 2026 midterm election races against former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Senator Jon Husted, respectively.
President Donald Trump announces tariffs on auto imports in the Oval Office, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
President Donald Trump plays golf in the Senior Club Championship at Trump National Golf Club Jupiter, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Jupiter, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
However, Obama reserved most of his ire for the man who succeeded him in the White House in 2016.
Obama Rips “Two Years of Chaos and Cruelty and Corruption”
“This election is our last best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration,” Obama told the crowd. “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.’”
He continued, “If you thought everything was too expensive before ‘you know who,’ everything is more expensive now,” before going on to criticize Trump’s war against Iran, and its economic effects — protesting that the conflict had merely given Tehran a “veto power” over the Strait of Hormuz it didn’t previously have.
Responding to Trump’s continued trade war with “that well-known evil empire,” Canada, Obama ripped, “These are the people who gave us maple syrup and Martin Short… They’re the nicest people… They’re our friendly neighbors to the north, and he’s picking a fight with them?”
The White House announced this month that while it would remove tariffs on certain Canadian products, it would place more tariffs on others.
The White House Under Trump Looks “Like Saddam Hussein Opened a Cheesecake Factory”
The former president also tore into President Trump’s taste in interior design, singling out his preference for gold.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovation. He should be on HGTV,” mocked Obama. “The guy’s building a ballroom that’s bigger than the White House. Paved over the rose garden. Put a helicopter pad on the South Lawn. And there’s gold everywhere.”
He questioned, “What’s up with the gold? Everything, there’s more gold. He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
The Former President Takes Aim at Vivek Ramaswamy
Obama also took aim at Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, accusing him of sinking to a new low in politics by releasing an attack ad on his opponent Amy Acton featuring her estranged mother, Donna Arthur, who lost custody of her daughter when Acton was a child following allegations of neglect and sexual abuse.
The former president described Ramaswamy as a “thirsty” wannabe political commentator who was “willing to do anything” just to “get attention, no matter what.”
“And in recent days we see there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to try to get in the limelight. I mean, think about this latest ad he ran,” he continued. “You know, there’s a decency that we should expect out of our public officials, and I don’t know what’s happened where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that somebody can run an ad like that. There’s gotta be something inside you where you just say no office is worth stooping that low, because you know what? Character matters.”
Trump Fires Back
President Trump fired back at Obama during a press gaggle on Saturday, claiming that the reason the former president hated him was that he beat the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton in 2016.
“Obama was a lousy president,” said Trump, adding in a Truth Social post that the former president was “grossly incompetent.”
Trump claimed, “He paid off Iran with $Billions, and gave them a road to a Nuclear Weapon. He said that Crooked Hillary Clinton was going to WIN, he campaigned hard for her, and she lost in all directions and ways. He then campaigned full out for Kamala, and likewise, she lost. Now he’s campaigning for a Muslim Brotherhood Jihadist, who hates Jews and Blacks and AMERICANS and TRUMP, and he is going to lose, also.”
American voters will go to the polls on November 3. All major national polls point to a disappointing result for the Republicans.
About the Author: Charlie Nash
Charlie Nash is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Spectator, Mediaite, New Statesman, and the American Conservative, among other major publications. His reporting has been featured by The Washington Post, Fox News, the Daily Beast, MS NOW, NewsNation, Hannity, and more. You can follow Charlie on X at @CharlieNash and on LinkedIn.
