Barack Obama’s Full Ohio Rally Speech: Trump Criticism, Rising Costs, Iran War — AC1Z

[0:01] next governor, Amy Atten, your next senator, Sherrod Brown. And by the way, if y'all got seats, [0:28] feel free to sit down. I got some stuff to say here today. Let's face it. I've been doing this [0:44] a long time. Sherrod talks about the first time I came here did not have a single gray hair. Not [0:56] one. And so I've been doing this a long time. And some people might say a little too long. [1:05] And one of those people is Michelle Obama. But she gave me a hall pass this weekend. [1:26] And when you have been campaigning, as long as I have been campaigning, when you've worked as many [1:35] elections as I have, you can tell when an election comes along that just feels a little bit different. [1:46] An election where people are so ready for something new, so hungry for something better, [1:52] so sick and tired of being sick and tired that everywhere you go, it feels like change is in [2:00] the end. And Ohio, that's how I'm feeling right now. That's what you get a chance to do in 10 days. [2:16] After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not [2:29] seen in modern times, you get a chance to say, enough's enough. We are voting for change right here in Ohio. [2:38] And the great thing is, here in Ohio, you can vote early through November 1st. So don't procrastinate. [2:56] Don't equivocate. Make a plan to vote early in person or on election day. If you need to find out [3:04] how to do it, go to iwillvote.com slash OH. OH, some things don't change. Love you back. You know that. [3:22] Now, you've heard some great speakers. I do not have to tell you how tough things are out there. [3:29] But I do think, I do think it's, it's worth reminding ourselves how we got here. And the promises [3:41] that the current occupant of the White House was making on the campaign trail two years ago. [3:46] Don't boo. By the way, y'all must not have been to my rallies before because you know you're not [3:53] supposed to boo. What are you supposed to do? Correct. They can't hear your boos. They'll hear [3:59] your vote. Now, now two years ago, there were a lot of people who weren't crazy about the guy's [4:16] character, but they were frustrated about post-COVID inflation. They were seeing prices go up and they [4:25] heard him make a bunch of promises to get costs under control. And those weren't the only promises [4:35] he made. He also promised he'd impose tariffs that would bring down the deficit. He promised he'd stop [4:42] getting us involved in unnecessary wars. He promised he'd pass a beautiful health care bill, the most [4:49] beautiful bill that would make everyone's lives better. So I think we should examine how did these [4:58] promises work out? First of all, if you thought everything costs too much before you know who, [5:10] everything is more expensive now. Your mortgage costs more. Your health care costs more. Your utility [5:22] bills cost more. Interest rates are up. And then there's gas. Four dollars a gallon, five dollars a [5:29] gallon. Diesel is over six in climate. I want to be fair. As a former president, I can tell you [5:39] sometimes, sometimes, sometimes factors beyond the president's control end up foiling the best laid [5:48] plans. That happens. A president doesn't have control over the entire economy. But it is not the case here. [6:00] In this case, this administration's actions are directly responsible for rising costs. The current [6:14] president chose to make a series of bad decisions. Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary [6:27] war that nobody asked for and nobody voted for. Now, this is something I know a little about. Think about [6:39] this Iran war. The original rationale was, we're going to go in there and get them to give up their [6:48] nuclear program, their nuclear weapons. Now, the thing was, Iran didn't have nuclear weapons. Because I had put a deal in place, [6:58] that everybody acknowledged, kept them from getting nukes. And I didn't have to fire a missile to do [7:05] it. I just had to engage in diplomacy. He pulled out of it, starts this war months later, months after [7:20] they declared victory. Because remember, they said, well, this is the best war ever. It's going great. So, [7:29] so seven months later, how's that war going? Our allies and our bases have been attacked. Americans have been [7:40] killed. Hundreds of Americans have been wounded. We have run down our stock of missiles. And Iran now has [7:51] veto power over the Strait of Hormuz where oil goes through to the world market. This is the reason why [8:00] the price of oil is up. Nobody disputes that. This is the reason the price of diesel is up. This is the [8:10] reason why the price of just about everything is up. Meanwhile, you got the defense secretary who's [8:21] who's squarely focused. Wait, wait, don't move. Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no. He's very focused on [8:29] important matters like the jawlines and testosterone levels of our troops and live streaming executions, [8:39] because that's how he thinks you cultivate that manly warrior spirit. Which time do you think [8:48] this defense secretary spends looking at himself in the mirror in the morning? I mean, he's, you know, [8:59] he's, you know, he's working his hair because that's how warriors look. These are not serious [9:05] people. Not serious people. And the problem is you end up having to pay the price for their lack [9:15] of seriousness. Oil prices aren't the only reason prices keep going up. There's also this whole tariff [9:24] business. Our current president loves tariffs. Loves them. He was warned at the time when you impose [9:37] tariffs, consumers pay the tab because it's not just the goods that you use directly that have been [9:45] imported from someplace else. It's also the car you build here in America, they might need to park [9:50] from somewhere else and now suddenly there's a tariff on it. So the prices go up. He was warned about [9:55] that. No, no, no, that's not what's going to happen. It's going to be great. Everything's going to turn [9:59] out great. No, that's not what happened. In fact, tariffs helped contribute to rising prices. And, and [10:11] the big trade war he's starting now is with that well-known evil empire, Canada, Canada. I mean, [10:23] these are the people who gave us maple syrup and, and, and Martin Short. These are the Canadians, [10:32] are the, they're the nicest people. They're, they're so nice. They're like our, our, our friendly [10:40] neighbors to the north. And he's, he's like picking a fight with them. And instead of bringing down [10:49] deficits, like he said with these tariffs, we're now running a debt to the tune of 40 trillion dollars. [10:56] 40 trillion. Now, you would think that with all this going on, our current president must have at least [11:09] passed some legislation to bring down prices. You would think, right? But they build a past of [11:23] any significant last two years was a trillion dollar tax break that mostly benefited the richest [11:31] Americans. Don't, what did I say? What did I say? Don't boom. Boom. I've heard presidents done some [11:48] things folks wanted to do, like tightening up the border. And you know what? I believe that we do need [11:56] to make sure that our border is orderly and secure and that people who want to come here do so lawfully. [12:03] And in fact, when I was president, I got criticized by, by some close democratic allies for tightening [12:11] up enforcement at the border. But I don't recall anybody campaigning on sending mass agents running [12:21] through our streets. I don't recall anybody talking about law-abiding citizens being arrested, [12:27] detained, or shot. We did not ask for that. That's not what we have to do to get our borders under [12:34] control. So when you go through all this, the tally of promises, things have not worked out the way [12:55] we might have expected. Although, I must say, I did expect it. And let's be honest, does anybody really [13:06] think this guy in the White House right now is spending all that time thinking about these issues? [13:10] I mean, I don't know if you've noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations. [13:21] He should be on HGTV. The guy's building a ballroom that's bigger than the White House. It's paved over [13:31] the Rose Garden, put a helicopter pad on the south lawn, and there's gold everywhere. What's up with the [13:38] gold? Everything, more gold. He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake [13:48] factory. There's gold everywhere. Don't leave gold. He's not focused on lowering prices for you. [14:02] Now, there is one thing he does seem to focus on in addition to home renovation, [14:09] and that is how to enrich himself and his family and his cronies. Look at the last couple of weeks. [14:16] We've got a U.S. United States ambassador shaking down a donor to pay off a $100,000 [14:23] credit card bill. Then we learn there's a Venezuelan billionaire who wanted a pardon. [14:32] He made one of Trump's personal lawyers $50 million to be general counsel at a company nobody knows [14:40] anything about, and lo and behold, he gets the pardon, falls out of the sky, and this culture is [14:49] set at the top. We have never seen a president excel so wildly and just straight up grifting on your dime. [15:01] Never seen a president so intent on selling favors and shaking folks down. We have lost count of all [15:13] the deals he and his family have done, from meme coins to taxpayer-funded contracts for his kids' [15:21] companies. And this is someone who has become billions of dollars wealthier in office. And by the [15:31] way, this is not disputed. I'm not making this up. It's all there. And not a single Republican in [15:40] Congress has done anything to stop him. Not John Huston, not any of the Republicans on the ballot here [15:52] in Ohio. Most of them have supported him every step of the way. So you remember that whole thing about [15:59] drain the swamp? The only thing that got drained was the reflecting pool in the National Mall after [16:06] some no-bid contract got it all messed up. And then they tried to blame a three-time Olympian and say [16:14] he vandalized it. All right. I mean, the list could go on. And here's the tough part, all right? Like it or not. [16:28] So I want a little reality check. Two more years of this administration. [16:34] Well, wait, wait, wait. I mean, wait, hold up. I mean, I'm just, that's how our system of government [16:42] works. But you know what? You know what we're not stuck with? We're not stuck with a spineless Congress [16:53] and Republican governors who are enabling lawlessness and carelessness and cruelty [17:02] and indifference for working people. We don't, we're not stuck with that. We're not stuck with [17:09] folks who are enabling policies that take more and more out of your paycheck and cut your healthcare [17:16] and drive up prices. We're not stuck with that. This election is our last best chance to at least [17:25] rein in some of the foolishness of this administration. It's the circuit breaker in the system. [17:33] We need to flip that circuit breaker. We need to start bringing some accountability [17:38] to this administration. And just as important, we need to start showing the American people who [17:47] are hungry for solutions, what real leadership looks like, what concrete plans look like that [17:54] actually lower costs and actually make healthcare more affordable and make housing more affordable [18:00] and get utility bills under control. We can't just be against this administration's behavior. We have [18:07] to start showing them what a future on the other side of this administration can look like. And that [18:21] starts with you, Ohio. That starts with you. That starts with electing Amy Acton Governor. It starts with [18:30] sending Sherrod Brown to the United States Senate. It starts with them. I almost feel bad for their Republican [18:47] opponents. Almost. Because after spending the past couple years just singing this president's praises, [18:58] doing his bidding, they've now come to realize he's pretty upset about all these broken promises. [19:08] So what are they doing? First of all, they're pretending like they've never heard of the guy. [19:15] Donald who? I'm sorry. Who? And then, of course, they're also doing what they always do, [19:30] which is running all kinds of scary ads to make you think Democrats are radicals and communists and [19:38] that the woke police will arrest you and force feed you tofu or, you know, we are not going to [19:48] fall for that. They run that same okey-doke every, every election and we're not, it's tired, tired. [19:59] We're clear about the choice in this election. Houston is a guy who, as Sherrod already mentioned, [20:08] voted not once, not twice. Voted 14 times to support the Iran war that's helping drive up gas prices [20:15] here in Ohio. 14 times. Don't vote out. Three times to block folks from reining in the tariffs [20:28] that have been driving up costs. Voted to kick hundreds of thousands of Ohioans off Medicaid [20:36] and raise healthcare costs. And by the way, this is the same guy who, as Lieutenant Governor, [20:42] pushed so hard for data centers, he's been called a data center's best friend. Now, I, I don't know [20:50] if that's a title I'd want, but that's it. You know who hasn't been called that? Sherrod Brown. [20:58] If there is one thing we all know about Sherrod Brown, and I've known him for two decades, [21:18] is that he is not looking out for the high and mighty. He's not working on behalf of people [21:26] living high on the hall. He's looking out for folks who are doing an honest day's work [21:32] and are still having trouble getting by. And that's who he is. That's who he's always been. [21:40] And by the way, you, you, you can tell by how he's dressed. I mean, this is not a guy who enriched [21:50] himself cozy enough to corporations. He still is wearing the same suit he was in when I met him 20 [21:58] years ago. You know, he got a, he got a haircut for this rally, but you all know he's too cheap [22:17] to get a haircut more than, I don't know, once every couple months. He's got this quarter zip. [22:24] That's all kind of told him, you know what, we got to spruce you up a little bit. Sherrod is not [22:35] somebody pretending to look out for working folks. He has always been there for you. Even when it's hard, [22:46] even when he might lose an election, even when he knows folks are going to spend millions of dollars [22:53] against them, he's always challenging the status quo, always taking on the system, always fighting for [23:00] you. And that's what he'll do in the United States Senate. He'll ban members of Congress from trading [23:07] stocks, ban them for life from lobbying after they leave. He'll put a cap on how much utility companies [23:15] can raise rates. And when it comes to data centers, he'll make sure corporations and not Ohioans are [23:21] paying the full cost of their energy needs. He'll fight to make sure decisions about data centers are [23:29] made not in secret deals, but out in the open by you in Ohio communities. And he'll build on the great [23:36] work we did because he was there every step of the way, passing the Affordable Care Act. And he's going [23:41] to make it illegal for drug companies to charge Americans more than what they charge in other [23:46] countries and taking on insurance companies who are denying Ohioans care and protecting health care. [23:57] For hundreds of thousands of Ohioans, that's who Sherrod is. So if you want lower costs, vote for [24:06] change. Vote for Sherrod. You want to end the war and get gas prices under control? Vote for change and [24:13] vote for Sherrod. You want to stop corruption and grifting? Vote for change. Vote for Sherrod Brown. And then you've [24:34] got a governor's race here. Let's talk about that. Now, there's one political observer who was recently [24:43] asked whether Vivek Ramaswamy wants to be a good governor or some kind of political celebrity. And [24:52] the political observer said, I don't know. I assume he wants to be both. This wasn't some Democratic [24:59] pundit who said this. It was Republican Governor Mike DeWine. That's on supporters. You know, it's all about [25:11] what's in it for him. We all know that guy, you know, who's just like thirsty, just wants to get [25:16] attention no matter what, willing to do anything. And in recent days, we've seen there is no line he [25:23] will not cross, no low he will not sink to, to try to get in the limelight. I mean, think about this [25:32] latest ad he ran. Do not boo. I want us to just focus on this. Wait, wait, and see that we should expect [25:54] out of our public officials. And I don't know what's happened where the standards of behavior [26:02] have gotten so low that somebody can run an ad like that. There's got to be something inside [26:10] you where you just say, you know, no office is worth stooping that low. Because you know what, [26:20] character matters. Amy has spoken movingly about her painful childhood and all she's experienced and [26:29] abuse, neglect and homelessness. And she's never forgotten the people who looked out for her, [26:36] who refused to look the other way when she needed a helping hand. And that's why she dedicated her [26:43] life and her career for looking out for Ohioans, looking out for people in need, looking out for [26:53] people who maybe didn't get a fair shot. That's what she did when Mike DeWine recruited her to join his [27:01] cabinet and lead Ohio's health department. And that's what she's going to do as governor. She'll cut taxes [27:15] for as many as 775,000 Ohio families to lower costs and put money in your pockets and lift people out of [27:25] poverty. She understands child care shouldn't bust the family budget, so she'll make child care more [27:31] affordable. Forgive medical debt because no one should go broke because they need a medical procedure. [27:39] And on day one, as governor, she will sign anti-corruption executive orders to make sure Ohio's [27:45] government is working for Ohioans and not special interests. Amy Acton is not in this to be some [28:01] kind of political celebrity. She's in it for you. Look, these are unsettling times. These are unsettling [28:16] times. The economy is changing fast. AI is here and we need to make sure it benefits everyone, not just [28:26] a few billionaires. We need to revamp our education for the new era that AI is ushering in. We're facing a [28:35] housing shortage and we need to build millions of homes. We need to rein in the cost of child care [28:42] so young families can afford it. We need to make sure no one has to worry about high health care [28:48] premiums. I get the frustration. I get the anger and the cynicism because the system is not working, [28:59] partly because of gerrymandering, partly because rich and powerful folks are able to buy and sell [29:06] elections like never before, the kind of money we've never seen, partly because we've got a republican [29:13] party that used to stand for smaller government and now seems to stand for corrupt government or inept [29:22] government or no government. And partly because this is also true too often, even among well-intentioned [29:32] folks, including democrats, there are times when we get so caught up in process and bureaucracy and we don't [29:41] deliver the goods fast enough to make a real difference in people's lives. And people get [29:46] frustrated. They don't see enough change out there. And that's the reason we need serious people in [29:55] Washington and in state capitals. These are serious times. And what is striking about this moment is just [30:10] how unserious the people in charge are right now. People who are more interested in performance [30:19] and flexing and texting and putting people down instead of lifting them up. And what all that means [30:32] is that when you see somebody like Sherry, when you see somebody like Amy, somebody who genuinely cares [30:39] about people, somebody who has a strong track record and is offering real solutions, somebody who isn't in [30:47] it to enrich themselves or because they want the limelight, but because they want to serve, then you've got to [30:56] realize how precious that is. And we've got to deliver for them. We've got to make sure we elect them [31:06] as the United States senator and as governor. Because, because Ered and Shamey understand this [31:20] election is not about them. It's about you. It's about us. And there's one other thing they understand. [31:27] They understand that what ails us right now, what is throwing our country so out of kilter, [31:35] it's not just about prices. It's not just about economics. Those things are really important. [31:40] But it's also about values. There is a moral component to the choices we face right now. [31:50] We are not going to fix the economic system or the political system that's broken. We're not going to [31:56] unrig our economy so long as we've got a culture where anything goes. And where people in the highest [32:03] offices in the land think it's okay to lie and cheat and bully. And where money is the only measure of [32:11] our worth. And that's part of what's going on right now. We have lost touch with those things that really [32:22] matter in life. Our families and helping our neighbors and looking after our children and [32:34] laughing with them and hugging them and keeping our word and having integrity and treating other people [32:40] with respect. Just basic stuff. Stuff that used to be wasn't democratic or it wasn't republican. It was [32:52] American. It was human. It was how we treat each other. Just basic decency. That's what we are missing [33:14] in our public discourse. Just basic decency. We need to remember the words of a 25-year-old preacher [33:26] who gave a sermon in 1954 where he said if we are to go forward today we've got to go back and [33:37] rediscover some mighty precious values that we've left behind. That was Martin Luther King Jr. at 25 years [33:45] old. He said we haven't learned how to be just. We haven't learned how to be honest and kind and true [33:53] and loving. And that is the basis of our problem. The real problem, he said, is that through our [34:09] scientific genius, we have made a world of neighborhood, but through our moral and our [34:17] spiritual genius, we failed to make it a brotherhood. In Ohio, what was true then is true today. [34:25] Yes, we need to lower costs. We need to put money in people's pockets. Yes, we need to end this war [34:31] in the corruption in Washington, but we don't do any of those things if we don't fix our moral compass [34:38] as a nation. If we don't return to some of those old-fashioned virtues, if our fundamental attitude [34:46] to each other is to try and hurt other people so they don't hurt us first, if we're driven by fear [34:54] instead of by hope. If we think it's okay to snatch children from parents or cut programs for the aged [35:01] or the infirm so the powerful can get whatever they want, we will continue to fester in anger [35:08] and division. And I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being angry. And I'm tired of being divided. [35:15] I want to, I want to, I want to reach out and shake my neighbor's hand. I want to get to work [35:24] doing something for somebody else. We didn't get into this moment overnight. We won't get out of it [35:33] overnight. And none of us should pretend that any single person in any single office is somehow going to [35:42] save the day for us and that the rest of us can just go back to acting the same way. We're going [35:49] to have to all make some changes. But Ohio, here's what I know. This election can be a start. This [35:57] election can be an inflection point. This election can be a course correction in America's long journey [36:03] toward a more perfect union. Because if we're willing to turn out in big numbers here in Ohio [36:11] and across the country, if we're willing to vote for change and vote for Democrats up and down the [36:17] ballot, then this election might just mark the moment this country began moving in a better [36:24] direction. When we leave our worst impulses behind and start aligning our politics with our highest ideals, [36:33] Ohio, you and I have proved before that it is hard to stop a change whose time has come. In 10 days, [36:44] you have a chance to do it again. So I'm asking you, are you fired up? Let's make Amy Acton governor. [36:55] Let's make Sheryl Brown senator. Let's get on the path to making America better. Thank you. I love you. [37:03] God bless you. God bless the United States of America.