'This is not a Reality Show, This is Reality': Obama Shreds Trump at Philadelphia Rally
“We’ve got to turn out like never before. We cannot leave any doubt in this election.”
By Laura Clawson / Daily Kos
Former President Barack Obama did his first in-person campaign speech of 2020 on Wednesday evening, and he tore it up. And by “it,” I mean Donald Trump.
Speaking at a drive-in rally in Philadelphia, Obama was on fire, in that very Obama way—the raised eyebrow, the mocking disbelief, the oh-wow-remember-what-it-was-like-to-have-a-president-who-was-a-good-person feeling for his listeners.
“[Trump] has not shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends or treating the presidency like a reality show that he can use to get attention. And by the way even then his TV ratings are down. So you know that upsets him,” Obama said. “But the thing is, this is not a reality show, this is reality. And the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously. At least 220,000 Americans have died. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed. Millions of jobs are gone. Our proud reputation around the world is in tatters.”
“I get this president wants full credit for the economy he inherited and zero blame for the pandemic he ignored,” Obama also said. “But you know what? The job doesn’t work that way. Tweeting at the television doesn’t fix things. Making stuff up doesn’t make people’s lives better. You’ve got to have a plan.”
Obama focused specifically on the coronavirus pandemic, saying that Trump “isn’t going to suddenly protect all of us. He can’t even take the basic steps to protect himself.” Biden, on the other hand, “is not going to screw up testing. He’s not going to call scientists idiots. He’s not going to hold a superspreader event at the White House.”
Biden is also not going to have a secret Chinese bank account, it’s safe to say—another Trump scandal that Obama touched on. “He's got a secret Chinese bank account,” Obama said. “How's that possible? Listen, can you imagine if had a secret Chinese bank account when I was running for reelection? You think Fox News might've been a little concerned? They would've called me Beijing Barry.”
Obama acknowledged the polls showing Biden ahead—in Pennsylvania, where the drive-in rally was held, and nationally—but pointed to Trump’s refusal to pledge a peaceful transition of power if he loses to highlight the need to win big, saying “We’ve got to turn out like never before. We cannot leave any doubt in this election.”
It’s not likely we’ll have another president anytime soon who can light up an audience like Barack Obama. But, as he emphasized, we can have a president who’s decent and honest and concerned with the well-being of the public. And that would be quite a change.
****
Eds Note: Here's the entire speech, if you have 36 minutes to spare.
https://youtu.be/W6QWULSog5I