FULL SPEECH: Obama Unleashes Fiery Attack on Trump Over Iran War, Corruption at Michigan Rally — AC1G

[0:00] difference in the lives of the people you serve so when they tell me but his [0:11] name's Abdul though I remind them his name was Barack though because we stand [0:24] on the shoulders of giants and we work for the America whose light they made [0:28] brighter so Detroit it is my absolute honor to introduce a man who needs no [0:39] introduction the 44th president of the United States [0:54] Detroit it's good to be back in Detroit back in the Motor City it is great to be [1:29] with your next governor Jocelyn Benson and your next senator Abdul El Saeed [1:45] I've been doing this a long time [1:57] I don't know if you've noticed I've gotten a little gray some people might [2:07] say I've been doing this too long oh no no it's true and and you know one of the [2:14] people who says that is Michelle Obama she like oh man sit down but one [2:25] advantage of having seasoning and experience when you campaigned in as [2:34] many elections as I have I can tell you when an election comes along that just [2:41] feels a little bit different an election where where people are so ready for [2:47] something new so hungry for something better so sick and tired of being sick [2:54] and tired that everywhere you go it feels like change is in the air and Michigan [3:01] that's what I'm feeling right now that's what you get a chance to do in 10 days after [3:10] 10 years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence tomfoolery nonsense the [3:25] likes of which this country has not seen in modern times at least you get to say [3:32] enough is enough we're voting for change right here in Michigan by the way while I'm [3:48] at it I'm not just asking you to vote for Abdul and Jocelyn I'm also asking you to [3:55] vote for your next secretary of state Garland Gilchrist your next attorney [4:01] general Ellie Savitt your next congresswoman for the 10th district [4:07] Christina Hines your Chief Justice Megan Kavanaugh and Justice Noah Hood we're [4:16] gonna keep the state Senate thanks to the leadership of Majority Leader Brinks win [4:22] back the State House thanks to the work of Minority Leader Puri so we got work to do [4:29] you got that whole ballot you got to fill out the good news is you got plenty of [4:35] time because early voting started today so if you have not already voted go to [4:44] michigandems.com slash vote and they'll tell you where to go now I love you back [4:58] but we got some business to attend to now and I appreciate that thank you man I'm [5:10] gonna come give you a kiss after we're done and Michelle won't mind so you just go [5:19] ahead and you just go ahead and have a seat you don't have to stand the whole [5:23] time now man I appreciate you now I don't have to tell you how tough things are out [5:33] there you're living it but I do think it's worth reminding ourselves just how we [5:40] got here and the promises that the current occupant of the White House was [5:46] making on the campaign trail two years ago it's always good to play back the tape [5:52] because we we've got a record at the time there were a lot of people who were [6:03] already not crazy about the guy's character they had seen that on display [6:06] but they were frustrated about the post-COVID inflation seeing prices go up [6:14] and they heard him promise to get costs under control that was what he was saying [6:19] I'm gonna get costs under control those weren't the only promises he made he also [6:24] promised he'd impose tariffs that would bring down the deficit he promised he'd stop [6:31] getting us involved in unnecessary wars he promised he'd pass a beautiful [6:38] health care bill that would make everybody's lives better he had been [6:44] promising that since the first time he was president let's see how all these [6:49] promises worked out let's run back the tape now first if you thought everything [6:59] cost too much before guess what everything cost more now your mortgage your [7:08] health care your utility bills interest rates are up and then there's gas four [7:16] dollars a gallon five dollars a gallon diesel over six dollars in climate now I [7:24] want to be fair because I believe in facts and and the fact is as a former [7:32] president I can say this sometimes factors beyond your control end up [7:37] foiling your best-laid plans you know you can you can say you're gonna do [7:43] something and then there's some economic crisis or something happens so so [7:50] sometimes a president has to deal with things he didn't expect during the [7:55] campaign trip but that's not the case here in this case the administration's [8:03] actions are directly responsible for rising costs the current president chose [8:11] to make a series of bad decisions the most important of which was he [8:18] decided to start an unnecessary war nobody had asked for and nobody voted for [8:23] now hey Bob but by the way y'all must those of you who've been to my rallies you [8:31] don't boo here what do you do you vote they can't hear you booing they can hear [8:38] you vote I want you to think about this Iran war the original rationale was well [8:48] we're gonna go in there let's go we're gonna make them heat you know bend the [8:55] knee and and and give up their nuclear program their nuclear weapons of course [9:00] Iran didn't have nuclear weapons we had curbed their nuclear program because I put [9:07] in place a deal that everybody acknowledged had kept them from getting nukes I [9:12] didn't have to fire a missile I engaged in diplomacy so seven months later and six [9:26] months after they declared victory keep in mind I like a month in they're all like [9:31] up this is the greatest war ever look I look seven months later how's that war [9:37] going our allies and bases have been attacked American soldiers have been [9:45] killed hundreds of Americans have been wounded we've run down our stock of [9:51] missiles dangerously low and this is the thing Iran now has veto power over the [10:00] strait of Hormuz where oil goes through to get to the world so they're in a [10:04] stronger strategic position now than before the war started that was a [10:11] decision this administration made and that is the reason that the price of oil [10:17] is up and the price of diesels up and the price of just about everything is up and [10:23] by the way it's not over it's still going on meanwhile you got the defense [10:30] secretary who is who is like a laser focused on important matters like the [10:49] jawline and testosterone levels of our troops and and and live streaming [10:56] executions because because that's how he thinks you cultivate that manly warrior [11:01] spirit how much time do you think this man spins in front of the mirror every day I [11:08] mean these these are not serious people we are paying for the price of their [11:26] lack of seriousness oil prices aren't the only reason prices keep going up [11:32] although they're the primary driver of it there's also this whole tariff [11:36] business and this is especially important for Michigan my current [11:42] president loves tariffs loves them that's his one economic policy tariffs [11:46] they're gonna be great the greatest tariffs ever and and he was warned at the [11:56] time when you impose tariffs consumers pay the tan and it's not just the goods [12:03] that are imported that we buy that are made in other countries in a place like [12:09] Michigan and the auto industry you got integrated systems between the United [12:16] States and and and and so each car requires a whole bunch of parts from a [12:21] whole bunch of places so he was warned this will drive prices up this does not [12:28] lower prices and by the way that's exactly what happened and and the [12:33] weirdest thing is he's the toughest when it comes to tariffs and trade wars on [12:40] that well-known evil Empire Canada that historical adversary of ours Canada Canada [12:58] it's your neighbor it's a few minutes drive over the bridge these are the people [13:06] who gave us Martin short and and and maple syrup they are the nicest people like [13:16] like they're so nice and and somehow we've gotten them so mad because they're [13:27] just constantly being abused and talked about and talking about annexing their [13:32] country making it a 51st state and and so rather than these tariffs bringing down the [13:41] deficits like he said he would they're driving up your prices and now we are [13:46] running a debt to the tune of 40 trillion dollars I want to I I can't [13:52] resist pointing out by the way when I was president we're in the middle of the [13:55] worst financial crisis all these Republicans all deficits deficits debt debt [14:00] you got to do something about it and now 40 trillion dollars crickets [14:18] somehow deficits only matter when when a Democratic president is in office so [14:25] anyway you would think that with all this going on at least our current [14:31] president would have passed some legislation to try to bring down prices [14:35] but no the only bill they have passed of any significance was a trillion dollar [14:45] tax break that mostly benefits the richest Americans now don't boo now I have heard [14:55] the argument that the president's done some things that folks wanted to do like [15:00] tightening up the border now you know what I believe we do need to make sure [15:06] our border is orderly and secure I believe that we want folks coming here [15:10] lawfully and in fact when I was president I got criticized by some [15:14] Democratic allies for tightening up enforcement at the border I do not [15:21] recall anybody campaigning on sending masked agents running through our streets I [15:28] don't recall anybody talking about law-abiding citizens being arrested and [15:36] detained and shot and killed we did not ask for that that's not how you get our [15:43] border under control let's be honest and I'm not telling you something you don't [15:57] know does anybody really think this guy spending on that much time thinking [16:04] deeply on these issues I don't know if you've noticed but he is very focused on [16:11] home renovation he should be on HGTV guys building a ballroom that is bigger than the [16:21] White House paved over the Rose Garden paved it over put a helicopter pad on the [16:29] side line and then there is just gold everywhere what's what's up with the gold I [16:40] mean he's got the white house looking like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake [16:44] factory it's just gold everywhere he is clearly not focused on lowering prices for you people will [17:00] come in to talk about the Iran war or talk about lowering prices oh it's okay all right [17:06] all right hold up it's a little hot in here and somebody fainted so if we got an EMT that's [17:11] what happens EMTs we just just give us a little space just give a little space [17:18] they'll be fine for those of you who have not yet fainted bend your knees that's what [17:26] you do you can't lock your knees that's important a little tip stay hydrated bend [17:33] your knees I have been in a lot of gyms she'll be okay so just let just just give [17:40] space let the EMTs work all right I'm gonna keep on going though now the one [17:46] thing that the current president is focused on other than home improvements [17:53] is enriching himself and his family and his cronies I just look in the last [18:02] couple weeks and and and I just want to be clear this is all documented I like you can [18:08] just look it up we I'm not making it up you you would have thought I was making it up but I'm not we've [18:17] got a US ambassador shaking down a donor to pay off her credit card bills hundred [18:23] thousand dollars we learned a Venezuelan billionaire wanted a pardon so he paid one of Trump's personal [18:31] lawyers 50 million dollars to be general counsel of a company nobody knows anything about and lo and [18:37] behold the the pardon falls out of the sky this is a culture that's set at the top we have never seen [18:45] a president excel in straight-up grifting on your dime like this never seen a president so intent on selling [18:59] favors like this we have lost count vote because we have lost count say this is this this group's [19:19] a quick study we had lost count of all the deals he and his family have done you can't keep up mean [19:29] coins taxpayer-funded contracts for his kids companies as I don't mentioned the guys become billions of [19:38] dollars wealthier in office nobody disputes this no nobody denies it it's just how do you do that when [19:48] you're supposed to be looking out for you and and the worst part about it is not a single Republican in [19:57] Congress has done anything to stop it any of the Republicans on the ballot here in Michigan have done [20:09] anything to stop any of this nonsense but most most of them supported him every step of the way yeah [20:18] they you remember roll back the tape we're gonna drain the swamp the only thing they drained is the [20:25] reflecting pool on the National Mall because some no-bid contract got it all messed up and then they tried [20:32] to blame him on this three-time Olympian you remember that said he vandalized it and they had to drop the [20:40] case because it was foolishness but and we could just go down the list all right now I like it or [20:49] not and then remember don't don't boo because I'm going to say this like it or not we got two more [20:56] years of this administration that's how that that's how our system of government works wait wait where we [21:07] are we're stuck with that but but you know what we're not stuck with we're not stuck with a spineless [21:14] Congress and Republican governors who are enabling all this lawlessness and corruption and indifference [21:21] to working people we're not stuck with those who will enable policies that take more and more out of [21:30] your paychecks and your health care and drive up inflation we're not stuck with that this election is [21:36] our last best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration it is the [21:44] circuit breaker in the system we got to flip that circuit breaker bring some accountability to this [21:53] government we need to start showing the American people who are hungry for solutions what real [22:01] leadership looks like what concrete plans look like that actually lower costs and make health care [22:08] more affordable and make housing more affordable and get utility bills under control we just can't we [22:14] can't just be against something we got to be for something we got to start showing what a future on [22:25] the other side of this administration can look like and that starts with all of you it starts with [22:33] you electing Jocelyn Benson governor it starts with you sending Abdul El Saeed to the United States Senate [22:42] now almost and I emphasize almost feel bad for their Republican opponents almost because after [23:02] spending the last couple years just singing this president's praises doing anything he asks they've [23:13] now come to realize whoops folks are kind of upset with all these broken promises so so what are they [23:23] doing well there are a number of strategies number one they're pretending they've never heard of a guy Donald who [23:33] what now don't know the guy they avoid the subject and what they're doing which is part for the course [23:41] is running all kinds of scary ads to make you think Democrats or radicals or communists or jihadists or the [23:48] woke police that will come arrest you and force feed you tofu instead of hamburgers we are not gonna fall for [24:03] that okey-doke we are not gonna be bamboozled like that we're clear about the choice in this election Abdul is [24:14] fighting for change real change change that will bring an end to this war change that will get [24:22] money out of politics and put money in your pocket change that will finish the job we started with the [24:29] Affordable Care Act and guarantee quality affordable health care to every single American taking on he's [24:43] taking on crony capitalism and corrupt politics that only benefits people with enough money and power [24:50] to game a broken system in Washington at your expense and and and you hear people say this [24:59] is somehow radical what what is radical about that wanting everybody to have health care how's that [25:07] radical wanting everybody to have a place to live that they can afford how is that radical now it doesn't [25:18] by the way I you know I want to talk about this some some of these folks say well you know Abdul didn't [25:25] like some things you did as president let me tell you something we are not going to agree on every detail [25:35] of every issue you know yeah so Abdul didn't agree with some some things we wanted to do that we our [25:44] administration was doing when I was president you know who else doesn't agree with everything I do [25:50] Michelle Obama Michelle Obama I'd say about five times a day she said you you knucklehead what why [26:03] you do that you think I'm I'm speaking facts now disagreeing on means is different from disagreeing [26:18] on ends on on our goals we when people who share your fundamental values are arguing for I think we can [26:32] go this way and do it that way that's the kind of disagreement we want in a democracy and Abdul [26:39] shares my values of wanting everybody to get health care he shares my values that if you work hard every [26:47] day you should have a living wage and you should be able if you're a young person starting a family to [26:56] be able to buy a house that you can afford and that you shouldn't have to pay six bucks every time you [27:05] fill up the tank of gas to get to work we share those values of making sure everybody gets a fair [27:14] shot in this society and that the system's not just run for those at the top for the high and mighty those [27:25] who can afford a lobbyist and I can also tell you this from experience whenever a movement builds to [27:35] challenge that broken system the people who benefit from the status quo will say and do anything to stop [27:42] that train from coming they will use lies and they will use fear and they will use division and they [27:50] may even use your name or your faith to somehow suggest that you are dangerous and less than trustworthy and [27:59] less patriotic and less American than they are we have seen this movie before I starred in it I was I'm I'm [28:11] I'm the I was I was I've got a long-form birth certificate to prove it this stuff didn't work on me not in Michigan it's not gonna work on Abdul [28:37] as Michigan as it gets Abdul was born here he was raised here parents in the auto industry played football and in Bloomfield Heights captain of his high school football and lacrosse and wrestling team I mean he just a jack you know he like you see those big guns that's where he wears those [28:44] t-shirts you know I never campaigned in a t-shirt I ain't got those big guns Michigan Wolverine somebody somebody who became a doctor to help people in fairness there is something that's different about Abdul unlike Mike Rogers Abdul hasn't spent a lot of years ago [28:52] he played football in Bloomfield Heights captain of his high school football and lacrosse and wrestling team I mean he just a jack you know he like you see those big guns that's where he wears those t-shirts you know I never campaigned in a t-shirt I ain't got those big guns Michigan Wolverine [29:16] somebody somebody who became a doctor to help people in fairness there is something that's different about Abdul unlike Mike Rogers Abdul hasn't spent months cheerleading the Iran war even as folks right here in Michigan were facing the country's biggest spike in gas prices unlike Mr. Rogers not that Mr. Rogers this Mr. Rogers Abdul hasn't called these these tariffs quote unquote masterful even as they're killing manufacturing jobs [29:59] he'll fight for you every day of the week and by the way imagine that because you already got a pretty good senator right here imagine the power duo of Abdul and Alyssa you've got a Muslim man you got a Jewish woman fighting for you in the United States Senate that's something Michigan you can be proud of and they'll fight for you in the United States Senate [30:46] fight for you in Washington just like Jocelyn will fight for you here in Michigan so her Republican opponent just like Mike Rogers John James voted six times to support the Iran war voted to keep tariffs on Canada voted to raise cost of health care not once or twice but three times Jocelyn Benson is running to lower costs raise wages she knows how hard it can be to make it all work when costs are so high she's a working mom herself she gets it so she'll fight to make health care more affordable more accessible [31:22] include more rural communities she'll make it easier to build homes faster and make housing more affordable she'll take on utility companies and profit driven rate house invest in clean energy so families can lower their bills she'll make child care more affordable invest in public schools and educators so Michigan children get a world class education and Jocelyn will not back down when armed protesters showed up outside her home in 2020 [31:59] demanded she overturned Michigan's fair and free election results Jocelyn stood her ground stood up for you and your rights that's who she is someone who knows what's right and fights for what she believes in so when you cast your ballot for Abdul and you cast your ballot for Jocelyn I'd also urge you to vote yes on Prop 2 so we can curb pay to play policy corporations with big government contracts from giving money to [32:34] to the politicians who green light those contracts all right now you know I know there's a good rally because I'm starting to beat up a little bit that's a good feeling I mean that means we're we're we're we're warmed up so so so so let me just close by saying this wait these are unsettling times the economy is changing fast and it's just going to start changing faster AI I know it's been hyped but there is a real technology that's coming it is going to change [33:16] a lot and we've got to make sure it benefits everybody not just a few billionaires we are going to need to revamp our education system for the new era that AI is ushering in [33:33] we are facing a really big housing shortage we've got to build millions of homes so the generation that's coming up can afford to buy homes just like their grandparents could [33:43] we need to rein in the cost of child care so young families can afford it we've got to make sure no one has to worry about high health care premiums [33:53] and and I understand the frustrations that people feel and the anger and the cynicism because we've got to be honest the system the status quo is not working partly because of gerrymandering partly because rich people go out of their way to try to buy and sell elections like never before we've never seen this much money folks just writing 100 200 300 million [34:23] checks to try to influence an election partly because we've got a Republican party that used to stand for smaller government and we could have that argument there were good decent Republicans who just felt like we can cut taxes a little bit we can shrink government a little bit now the party seems to stand for corrupt government or in that government or no government part of the reason the system doesn't work is also because too often [34:57] too often even well-intentioned people including Democrats have been at times so caught up with process and bureaucracy that we don't deliver for people fast enough and people get frustrated because they look around and they say well nothing's changed I'm still struggling and and that's the reason why we need serious people in Washington and in state capitals these are serious times [35:37] the time for real housewives except on television but not in our politics and and and what's striking about this moment is just how I'm serious these people are the damage they do is serious but they don't they don't even seem to be doing their homework people who are more interested in performance and flexing and putting people down instead of lifting them up and what that all means is when you find [36:15] when you find somebody like Jocelyn Benson when you find people who genuinely care about people and who have a strong track record and are offering real solutions people who are not in this to enrich themselves but to serve you've got to realize how precious that is and you've got to deliver for them we've got to make sure we elect them to the United States Senate and to the governor's mansion [36:50] the election is not about them it's about you it's about us it's about we and there and there's a related thing they understand they understand what what ails us right now what's throwing this country off kilter so much it's not just about economics it's not just about inflation it's not just about policy it's about values there's a moral component to the choices that we face right now and and and we are not going to fix [37:31] a system that's broken we won't unrig our economy so long as we've got a culture where anything goes where people in the highest offices in the land think it's okay to lie and cheat and bully where where what is true and what's false is all just poured into social media and it doesn't matter what's what and where money is the only measure of our worth and that's the signal that's sent every single day if you're not rich [38:07] you don't count every single day that is that's the message we deliver to our children consciously and subconsciously and that's part of what's going on right now we have lost touch with those things that really matter in life caring for our families helping our neighbors treating other people with respect you know back back when I was president you know and and and we made a bet on the auto industry and and and and and a whole bunch of plants [38:48] had closed and and and and and and and michigan was teetering and and everybody was no bailouts for the auto industry said no no we're going to restructure but we're going to make these work because communities count on this and and and we believe in making cars here in america and and and so i came i came to detroit i came to detroit and i and i visited chrysler's jefferson north [39:14] and and and and and some of y'all remember uh some employees there had recently won the lottery and the guy who bought the winning ticket was a proud uaw member who worked in the paint shop and and everybody assumed he was going to retire after he won they had the winning ticket and everybody would have understood if he had you know said all right i'm i'm gonna kick it in the bahamas but that's not what he did he used some of the winnings to buy some new american flags for [39:54] his hometown and then he got right back to work he was on the assembly line after he'd won the lottery because he knew there was something more important than money because he knew he had friends and a community and a sense of purpose and pride in a job well done he drew a sense of meaning from contributing to his community and and that's something i think we can all learn from [40:34] it's when it's right and he was like looking forward to another idol and he would be a medal and the [40:39] i think that's it in an environment, that's the very first time it seems to be the the most powerful [40:39] and this is the very country we're going to be the most powerful way of doing that in an environment [40:42] and we're going to have to be the most powerful way of doing that in one country and every country that's [41:03] tradition if we don't rediscover those values we will continue to fester in [41:12] anger and division and I don't know about you but I am tired of anger and [41:18] division I want I want I want some some some friendship and neighborliness and [41:28] joy and and everybody rolling up their sleeves in the common enterprise of [41:34] rebuilding this country and then handing it off to our kids a little better than [41:38] it is right now that's what I want that's what you want we didn't get into [41:43] this moment overnight we're not going to get out of it overnight but Michigan I [41:49] know this election can be a start this election can be an inflection point this [41:56] election can be a course correction in America's long journey towards a more [42:02] perfect union because if we're willing to turn out in big numbers here in Michigan [42:07] and across the country if we're willing to vote for change up and down the ballot [42:11] then this election might not just mark the moment this country began to move in [42:16] a better direction this will this will be the moment when we began leaving our [42:20] worst impulses behind and started aligning our politics with our highest ideals [42:27] Michigan you and I have proved before it's hard to stop change when it's time [42:34] has come in ten days you have a chance to do it again so I'm asking you right now [42:40] are you fired up are you ready to go let's make Jocelyn Benson governor let's make [42:47] Abdul El Saeed senator let's get on to the path of making this country better I love you Detroit [42:54] God bless you God bless the United States of America