Former President Barack Obama plans to blast his successor as unserious and self-centered during his address Wednesday on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.
Obama will portray President Donald Trump as a catastrophically ineffective leader who has used the office only to benefit himself and his friends, according to a preview released by convention organizers. Trump views the presidency as no more than a “reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves,” and his failure to lead has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, Obama will say.
“I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies,” the 44th president will say. “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. But he never did.”
“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t,” Obama's remarks continue. “And the consequences of that failure are severe: 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.”
Obama plans to urge voters on the fence to vote for the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, saying the very democracy of the country is at stake.
Obama’s scathing words about the current president echo the motif of Biden as the anti-Trump that has been repeated throughout the convention. Former President Bill Clinton called the Trump administration “chaos” on Tuesday and former first lady Michelle Obama said Trump was in “over his head” in the Oval Office.
Barack Obama also plans to talk up Biden as both a confidant during their time in the White House and as a close personal friend — going so far as to call him a “brother.”
Responding to the excerpt of Obama’s speech at a White House news briefing, Trump blasted his predecessor for what he characterized as the “stupidity of the transactions that he made” while in office, going on to tout the perceived accomplishments of his own administration.
“President Obama did not do a good job, and the reason I’m here is because of President Obama and Joe Biden,” Trump told reporters.
“Because if they did a good job,” he continued, “I wouldn’t be here. And, probably, if they did a good job, I wouldn’t have even run. I would have been very happy. I enjoyed my previous life very much. But they did such a bad job that I stand before you as president.”
Obama’s remarks are slated to help close out the night’s events, shortly before the vice presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, plans to speak. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden offered the closing remarks to Monday’s and Tuesday’s convention programming, and their speeches were viewed as some of the most memorable moments in the convention so far.
The former first and second ladies were praised for their candor, discussing Biden’s work as a vice president and his character as a family man. Barack Obama’s prepared remarks appear to add to those accounts, showing Biden’s reliability as a political partner.
“Over eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision,” Obama plans to say. “He made me a better president. He’s got the character and the experience to make us a better country.”
Quint Forgey contributed to this report.
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