Barack Obama Gets Angry

Former President Barack Obama offered a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump as he campaigned for Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Obama made battleground Pennsylvania the first stop on his tour of swing states with less than four weeks until Election Day and as voting is already underway. It comes as polls show Harris and Trump in a close contest that could be decided by small margins in swing states.

Speaking at a rally at the University of Pittsburgh, Obama called Harris “a leader who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a chance.”

He portrayed her Republican opponent as egotistical and selfish, saying Trump “has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”

Obama’s tone was harsher at some points of his speech, including when he blasted Trump for spreading false claims about the Biden administration’s response in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene “to score political points.”

“Everybody knew it wasn’t true,” Obama said. “Even local Republicans said it was not true, and now the people of Florida are dealing with another devastating storm, and I want you to watch what happens over the next few days…you’re going to have leaders who try to help, and then…you have a guy who will just lie about it to score political points and this has consequences.

“The idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments. And my question is, when did that become OK?”

He went on to question why Trump’s fellow Republicans go along with Trump’s behavior.

“When Donald Trump lies or cheats or shows utter disregard for our Constitution, when he calls POWs losers or fellow citizens vermin, people make excuses for it,” he said. “They think it’s OK. They think well, at least he is owning the libs.”

Obama said Trump’s penchant for bullying and putting people down was not real strength.

“Real strength is about working hard and carrying a heavy load without complaining,” he said. “Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient. 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, and that is what I want to see in a President of the United States of America.”

Obama’s office and the Trump campaign have been contacted for comment via email.

Some on social media commented on Obama’s tone.

“Parts of this Obama speech are really intense, even angry,” lawyer Daniel Miller wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “It comes across as a warning for us to wake up, particularly when he talks about Trump calling his fellow citizens ‘vermin.'”

Symone Sanders-Townsend, who hosts MSNBC‘s The Weekend and was previously a senior adviser to Harris, shared a clip from Obama’s speech on X.

“This is four minutes of Barack Obama being both completely fed up with the shenanigans and very effective,” Sanders-Townsend wrote.

Singer-songwriter Ricky Davila wrote: “President Obama is pissed off and fearful as hell for our democracy as we all should be.”

Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek: “I wouldn’t characterize Obama’s speech as angry. I’d characterize it as candid and displaying a level of concern that he thinks matches the gravity of the moment and the stakes of the election.”

He added: “There was nothing that Obama said in Pittsburgh that we haven’t heard from Democrats before. Obama’s tone was perhaps sharper than we’re used to seeing it, but precisely because he’s not known for pointed critiques, it made his speech all the more impactful.”