Former President Barack Obama strongly rebuked his successor by name in a speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday evening, accusing President Donald Trump of actively failing in his role as Commander-in-Chief of the United States.
Delivering his remarks from Philadelphia and standing in front of a massive Declaration of Independence backdrop, Obama ripped into Trump for never discovering “any reverence for the Democracy that had been placed in his care.”
“For close to four years now, he has shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends, no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves,” said Obama.
“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t,” he said.
Obama then transitioned into a long argument for why on-the-fence citizens should cast a vote for Biden, who the former president described as his brother, instead of sitting out the election or voting for Trump.
After excerpts from the former president’s planned remarks were released ahead of the speech, a reporter at the White House asked Trump during a press conference for his thoughts on Obama’s plans to criticize him at the convention, reports Politico.
“President Obama did not do a good job, and the reason I’m here is because of President Obama and Joe Biden. Because if they did a good job, I wouldn’t be here,” said Trump.
“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,” added the president. “But they did such a bad job that I stand before you as president.”
Offering additional remarks as Obama delivered his speech, Trump fired off two tweets at his predecessor, saying he spied on his campaign and, shortly after, questioning why Obama didn’t endorse Biden sooner in the primary.
HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
During his speech, Obama also declared “the basic tenants of our Democracy” are at stake, and later remarked that the Trump administration “has shown it will tear our Democracy down if that is what it takes for them to win.”
He concluded: “So we have to get busy building it up, by pouring all our efforts into these 76 days, and by voting like never before for Joe and Kamala and candidates up and down the ticket so that we leave no doubt about what this country that we love stands for today, and for all our days to come. Stay safe. God bless.”