TOI World Desk
As the US elections hit the final stretch of the campaign, former President Barack Obama campaigned for vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris at a rally in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday.
The event was aimed to galvanize support for Harris while targeting her main opponent, former President Donald Trump.
In his address, Obama accused Trump of attempting to sow division between Americans.“Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided,” he said, referring to the rift Trump claims exists in America for electoral gain. “He figures that boosting anger and resentment among his supporters gives him a better chance of getting elected,” he added.
“We don’t need four more years of arrogance, bumbling, and division under Donald Trump,” he declared.
The former president criticised Trump’s downplaying of the January 6th Capitol attack. As the crowd boo-ed, the former president quipped, “Do not boo! vote!”
Obama did not shy away from questioning Trump’s competence for the presidency, “Have you seen him lately? You have no idea what he’s talking about,” he said.
While expressing concern over Trump’s recent public appearances and age, he said, “You’d be worried if your grandpa was acting like this, and he seeks unchecked power. Tucson we do not need to see what an older loonier Donald Trump looks like with no guardian trails”.
Obama talked about Trump’s recent Univision town hall meeting where Trump was reportedly seen diverting the topics by singing ‘Ave Maria’ and ‘YMCA’ for half an hour leaving the audience shocked and confused.
Earlier on Monday, after several disturbances during a town hall event, Trump apparently decided to stop taking questions and instead swayed onstage to music. However, the bizarre event has prompted the Kamala Harris campaign to allege that Donald Trump was lost, confused and frozen for 30 minutes at the Pennsylvania townhall as the audience started leaving.
In his closing statement former President Barack Obama expressed optimism for the future, stating, “America is ready to turn the page.” He urged the crowd to support Kamala Harris, asserting, “We’re ready for a better story – we’re ready for a President Kamala Harris.”