Former President Barack Obama hit the campaign trail on Saturday, encouraging voters to support Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden , Vox journalist Aaron Rupar reported via Twitter .
During an event in North Miami, Florida, Obama ripped into President Donald Trump , casting him as incompetent and unfit for office.
“Listen, if [Trump] cannot answer a tough question like, ‘What would you like to do in your second term,’ then it is our job to make sure he does not get a second term,” he began.
Obama slammed Trump for mishandling the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that his administration left their successors a “playbook” on how to deal with disease outbreaks, but Trump “doesn’t even acknowledge that there’s a problem.”
The Democrat then took a shot at Trump’s apparent refusal to take responsibility amid the COVID-19 pandemic and reminded the audience that the commander-in-chief once seemed to suggest that those infected with the novel disease should ingest bleach.
Obama blamed Trump for the state of the economy, blasting him for not providing economic relief to the American people. He attacked the GOP for not having a clear plan to protect people with preexisting conditions and ensure that all Americans have access to health insurance.
“The reason [Republicans] do not show you their plan to actually provide people protections when it comes to preexisting conditions is because they do not have one, and they never have.”
After slamming the Republican Party, Obama went back to mocking his successor, saying that he “once asked our national security officials if he could nuke hurricanes.”
He made sure to ridicule Trump for walking out of an interview with 60 Minutes anchor Lesley Stahl.
“When 60 Minutes and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain’t all that tough” — Obama pic.twitter.com/KcFVaoyQ7B
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2020
Obama also slammed Trump for threatening his political opponents with prison, telling the crowd that most people would not tolerate such behavior from a co-worker, let alone the commander-in-chief.
Trump was quick to respond. Seemingly moments after Obama delivered the remarks, the Republican took to Twitter , alleging that “nobody” attended the rally.
Hours earlier, Trump held a campaign rally in North Carolina, where he blamed testing for the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, attacked members of the media, and slammed Biden and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
In a fiery speech, he argued that Biden can only win if there is widespread electoral fraud, took credit for the fact that Americans are allowed to say “Merry Christmas,” claimed to be immune to coronavirus, and repeatedly stressed that the U.S. is close to overcoming the pandemic.