The former U.S. president campaigned this weekend alongside several Democratic candidates in Ohio and Michigan, two key states for control of the next Congress that had been won by Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
His appearance beside Amy Acton, a candidate for Ohio governor, alongside Sherrod Brown, the Senate candidate in the same state, but also Abdul El-Sayed, a Senate candidate in Michigan facing Republican Mike Rogers, and Jocelyn Benson, a candidate for governor in Michigan, marks a departure from the stance he had adopted up to now.
Apart from a brief appearance in May with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico—who could become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from the state since 1988—then a support video in July for Josh Turek, a Senate candidate in Iowa, Obama had largely dedicated himself to fundraising and filming campaign spots.
Yet the electoral map for the midterms has evolved significantly in recent months, against a background of rising living costs, driven in particular by the war in Iran, and a number of corruption scandals that prompted several departures from the Republican administration, including the ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who pressed a donor for $100,000 in exchange for access to the administration, and Paolo Zampolli, the U.S. special envoy for global partnerships, accused by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau of conducting unauthorized, potentially illegal business activities.
Ohio, a state that recently became a Republican stronghold from which Vice President J.D. Vance hails, now seems within reach for the Democratic Party. It had been won by Trump with a margin of 11.2 points two years ago, but the latest polls show nearly a four-point lead for Brown in the Senate race. Although he has not held office for nearly a decade, Obama is the Democrat most capable of acting as a “kingmaker”: according to a NBC poll in September, 43% of voters say they are more likely to back a candidate endorsed by Obama, compared with 33% for Bernie Sanders and 30% for Trump.
His tour of Ohio and Michigan is thus aimed as much at encouraging Democrats to turn out as at persuading independent voters or disillusioned Republicans about Trump’s record since returning to power in January 2025.
Hello, Ohio. Hello, Cleveland. Okay. Easy now. Step closer, everyone. There’s a lot of energy in Cleveland right now. It’s good to be back.
What a pleasure to stand with your future governor, Amy Acton. Your future senator, Sherrod Brown. By the way, those of you who have a seat, take one: I have a few small things to tell you. I must admit I’ve been doing this for a long time.
Sherrod reminded me of the first time I came here. I did not have a gray hair in sight. Not one. In short, it’s been a long road. Some would say a bit too long. Beginning with Michelle Obama. But she gave me a break this weekend.
And when you have been campaigning for as long as I have, when you have participated in as many elections as I have, you learn to spot an election that stands out. An election where people are so ready for something new, so hungry for something better. So fed up with being fed up. Everywhere you go, you can feel that change is in the air. And that is exactly how I feel here in Ohio.
In ten days, after two years of chaos, of cruelty, of corruption and incompetence unseen in our lifetimes, you will have the chance to say: “Enough is enough.” Here in Ohio, we vote for change.
And the good news is that here in Ohio you can vote early until November 1. So don’t put it off. Don’t hesitate. Plan to vote early or on Election Day. To learn how, go to iwillvote.com. There are things that don’t change. I love you too. You know that.
You’ve heard excellent speakers before me. It’s no secret how tough the current period is. But it’s worth recalling how we arrived here and the promises the then-occupant of the White House made during the campaign two years ago.
Don’t boo. Apparently, some of you have never been to my rallies; otherwise you’d know that here we don’t boo. What do we do instead? We vote! Your boos go unheard by them. Your vote, yes, will be heard.
Two years ago, many people weren’t particularly taken with the personality of that guy, but they were fed up with post-Covid inflation. They saw prices rise and they heard him promise wonders to bring down the cost of living. Those weren’t his only pledges. He also promised to impose tariffs that would trim the deficit. He promised to end our involvement in needless wars. He promised to pass a magnificent healthcare law, the finest law that would improve everyone’s life.
So what have those promises become? First, if you already thought everything cost too much, you should know that everything is still more expensive today. Your mortgage payments are higher, your healthcare costs are higher, your electricity and gas bills are higher. Interest rates have risen. Not to mention gasoline. Four dollars a gallon, five dollars a gallon, diesel above six dollars and climbing.
That said, I want to be fair. As a former president I can tell you that sometimes factors beyond a president’s control derail even the best-laid plans. It happens. A president does not control all of the economy, but here, that isn’t what’s at issue. In this case, it is the policies of this administration that are directly responsible for the surge in prices.
The current president has followed one bad decision after another. More importantly, he decided to trigger a needless war that nobody asked for and for which no one voted. And that is a subject I know a little about. Let’s think about this war with Iran.
Originally, the argument was that intervention was needed to force them to abandon their nuclear program, to give up their weapons. Except that Iran did not possess a nuclear weapon, because I had secured an agreement that, by all accounts, prevented them from acquiring one. And to achieve that, I did not need to fire a single missile: diplomacy had done the work.
He walked away from that agreement, then launched this war seven months later, six months after they proclaimed their victory. Because remember, they said: “Well, this is the greatest war ever. It’s going wonderfully.” So, seven months later, where does that war stand? Our allies and bases have been attacked. Americans have been killed. Hundreds of Americans injured. We exhausted our missile stockpile.
And Iran now has a veto over the Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world’s oil passes. That is why oil prices have risen. No one disputes it. That is why diesel prices rose. That is why the price of almost everything has risen.
Meanwhile, you have a Secretary of Defense who is utterly preoccupied. Wait, don’t move. Wait, wait, wait. No, no, no. He is deeply focused on issues like the square jaw and the testosterone levels of our soldiers, and on live-streaming executions, because that is how, in his view, you cultivate a fierce, virile spirit.
How long do you think that Secretary spends looking in the mirror in the morning? I mean, he combs his hair, because that is what warriors look like. These aren’t serious people. These aren’t serious people. And the problem is that you end up paying the price for their lack of seriousness.
Now, oil prices aren’t the only reason prices keep rising. There is also all this tariff business. Our current president loves tariffs. He loves them. Tariffs. And we were warned at the time: when you levy tariffs, the consumer pays the bill, because it’s not only the goods you buy that come from elsewhere. It is also the car you build here in the United States: it may require a part from elsewhere, and suddenly that part is subject to a tariff.
So prices rise. We warned about this. “No, that’s not what will happen. It will be great. Everything will go very well.” No, that’s not what happened. In fact, tariffs contributed to higher prices.
And the grand trade war he’s waging concerns this very villainous empire, Canada. The people who gave us maple syrup and Martin Short. The Canadians are the nicest people you could meet. They are our good neighbors to the north. And he is picking a fight with them.
And instead of reducing deficits as he promised with these tariffs, we now have debt totaling about $40 trillion. One might think that with everything going on, our current president would at least push through some laws to lower prices. One might think so, right? But the only meaningful bill they passed in the past two years was a tax cut for thousands of wealthy Americans. What did I tell you? We don’t boo.
So I’ve heard the argument that the president did some things people wanted him to do by hardening border security. And you know what? I think we do need to ensure our borders are well managed and secure, and that people who want to come here do so legally. And in fact, when I was president, I was criticized by some of my fellow Democrats for tightening border controls.
But I don’t recall anyone campaigning by promising to send masked agents prowling our streets. I don’t recall anyone talking about arrests, detentions, or shooting at law-abiding citizens. That is not what is required to secure our borders.
So, when you take all of that together, the track record of promises, things did not unfold as people had hoped. Even if I do have to admit that I expected as much. And honestly, does anyone really think this guy currently in the White House spends all his time thinking about these questions?
I mean, I don’t know if you noticed, but he seems completely focused on renovating his house. He should be on HGTV. He is building a ballroom bigger than the White House. He has paved over the rose garden with concrete. He has installed a helicopter pad on the south lawn and there is gold everywhere. What is this gold business? Gold upon gold. He has transformed the White House into a Cheesecake Factory, run by Saddam Hussein. Gold everywhere. Lovely, isn’t it?
So, it’s clear that he isn’t focusing on lowering prices for you. Now, there is one thing he seems to be focusing on in addition to remodeling his house: how to get richer, and enrich his family and friends. Just look at the last couple of weeks.
We have an American ambassador who was coercing a donor to settle a $100,000 credit-card bill. Then we learn that a Venezuelan billionaire seeking a pardon paid $50 million to one of Trump’s personal lawyers to become the general counsel of a company about which no one knows anything. And there you have it, a pardon granted as if it had fallen from the sky.
And that culture runs right up to the highest levels. We have never seen a president excel so completely at the art of pure, simple misrepresentation at the expense of taxpayers. Never seen a president so determined to sell favors and extort money from people. We have lost count of all the deals he and his family struck, from meme coins to taxpayer-funded contracts for his children’s businesses. And here is someone who has enriched himself by billions during his term. And, indeed, this is not in dispute. I am not making this up. It is all there.
And not a single Republican in Congress has lifted a finger to put a stop to it. Not Jon Husted, nor any of the Republicans running here in Ohio. Most of them supported him at every turn. Do you remember all that talk about “draining the swamp”? The only thing that got drained was the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool—after a no-bid contract left it a total mess. And then they tried to blame that disaster on a triple Olympian by saying he vandalized it.
The list could go on. And here is the hardest part, whether you like it or not. I want us to come back a bit to reality. We still have two years with this administration. Wait. That’s how our political system works.
But you know what? Here is what we don’t have to endure: a Congress with no backbone and Republican governors who tolerate illegality, neglect, cruelty, and indifference toward working people. We do not have to endure that. We do not have to tolerate people who favor policies that take more from your paycheck, reduce your healthcare coverage, and push prices higher. We do not have to endure that.
This election is our last and best chance to hold back at least some of the absurdities of this administration. It’s the circuit breaker for the system. We must flip that switch. We must begin to demand accountability from this administration.
And just as important, we must start showing the American people, who crave solutions, what real leadership looks like, what concrete plans that genuinely reduce the cost of living, improve healthcare and housing affordability, and allow people to manage energy bills look like. We cannot simply be against the behavior of this administration. We must start showing what a future beyond this administration could look like.
And that begins with you, Ohio. It begins with you. It begins with electing Amy Acton as governor. It begins with sending Sherrod Brown to the United States Senate. It begins with them.
Now, I almost pity their Republican opponents, almost. My God. After spending the last two years praising this president, obeying his orders, they now realize that everyone is angry about all these unfulfilled promises. So what do they do? First, they act as if they have never heard of this guy. “Donald who? Pardon me, who?”
And then, of course, they do what they always do, which is to flood you with scary ads designed to make you believe Democrats are radicals and communists, and that the “police of political correctness” will arrest you and stuff you with tofu. You know we won’t fall for it. They recycle the same old refrain every election, but we won’t be fooled. It’s old-fashioned.
For us, the choice in this election is clear. Jon Husted is a guy who, as Sherrod already noted, voted not once, not twice, but 14 times in favor of the war in Iran, which helps push up gas prices here in Ohio. Fourteen times. Do not boo him. No, he voted three times to prevent people from limiting tariffs that raise the cost of living. He voted to exclude hundreds of thousands of Ohioans from Medicaid and to push up the cost of healthcare.
Besides, it’s the same guy who, as lieutenant governor, pushed hard for data centers. He’s been nicknamed “the best friend of data centers.” Well, I don’t know if that’s a title I’d want, but that’s how it is.
Do you know who has never earned such a tag? Sherrod Brown. If there is one thing we all know about Sherrod Brown—and I’ve known him for two decades—it is that he does not fight for the interests of the powerful. He does not work for those who live the high life. He fights for people who work hard all day and still struggle to make ends meet. And that is his track record. That’s who he has always been.
And you can see it in the way he dresses. I mean, he’s not the type to enrich himself by bowing to big corporations. He’s always worn the same suit I saw him in when I first met him twenty years ago. And you know, he had his hair cut for this rally, but you all know he’s too frugal to go to the barber more than once every couple of months, I’d say. He wears this zip-neck sweater. That’s Connie’s influence: “You know what? We should make you look a little more presentable.”
Sherrod isn’t the kind to pretend to defend workers. He has always been there for you. Even when it’s hard, even if he risks losing an election, even if he knows people will spend millions against him, he consistently challenges the status quo, fights the system, and always stands up for you. And that’s what he will do in the United States Senate.
He will bar members of Congress from negotiating stocks and ban them for life from lobbying after they leave. He will cap the allowable price increases for utility companies. And regarding data centers, he will ensure that it is the companies—not the residents of Ohio—who pay the full cost of their energy needs. He will push for decisions about data centers to be made openly, by you, within the communities of Ohio, rather than behind closed doors.
And he will build on the solid work we’ve done, because he was there at every step of the passage of the Affordable Care Act. He will bar pharmaceutical companies from charging Americans more than they charge abroad. He will take on insurance companies that deny healthcare to Ohio residents and protect access to healthcare for hundreds of thousands of them. That is Sherrod.
So, if you want a lower cost of living, vote for change. Vote for Sherrod. If you want to end the war and curb energy prices, vote for change and vote for Sherrod. If you want to end corruption and scams, vote for change. Vote for Sherrod Brown.
And then there is the governor’s race here. Let’s talk about that.
Recently, an observer was asked whether Vivek Ramaswamy wanted to be a good governor or some kind of political celebrity. And the observer replied: “I don’t know. I suppose he wants to be both.” And that wasn’t coming from a Democratic commentator who said it. It was Republican Governor Mike DeWine. For Vivek’s own supporters, you know, what matters is what he stands to gain.
We all know that kind of guy—the attention-seeker, the one who will do anything to be in the spotlight. And in recent days we’ve seen there is no limit he won’t cross, no low he won’t sink to, to land in the headlines. Take, for example, the latest advertisement he released.
Don’t boo; I just want us to focus on that. Wait. You know, there’s a basic level of decency we’re entitled to expect from our politicians. And I don’t know what happened to drive the standards so low that a commercial like that could be broadcast. There has to be something inside you that makes you think: “No office is worth sinking to this level,” because you know what? Character matters.
Amy spoke movingly of her painful childhood, of all she endured: abuse, neglect, and homelessness. And she has never forgotten the people who looked after her, who refused to look away when she needed a hand. That is why she has dedicated her life and career to looking after the people of Ohio, to helping those in need, to defending those who may not have had their break.
That is what she did when Mike DeWine recruited her to join his administration and head Ohio’s Department of Health. And that is what she will do as governor. She will cut taxes for no fewer than 775,000 Ohio families to bring down the cost of living, to put more money in your pockets and lift people out of poverty.
She understands that child care should not break a family’s budget. She will make child care more affordable and she will cancel medical debts, because no one should be bankrupted by a medical procedure. And from day one as governor, she will sign anti-corruption executive orders to ensure that Ohio’s government works for Ohioans, not special interests. Amy Acton is not entering this race to become some kind of political celebrity. She is in this for you.
Listen, we are living in a turbulent era.
The economy is evolving rapidly. Artificial intelligence is here, and we must ensure it benefits everyone, not just a few billionaires. We must reform our education system for the new era that AI is ushering in. We face a housing shortage and must build millions of homes. We must make childcare affordable so that young families can manage. We must ensure that no one has to worry about how high health insurance premiums will rise.
I understand the frustration. I understand the anger and cynicism, because the system isn’t working: partly because of gerrymandering, partly because the rich and powerful can buy and sell elections as never before—injecting money into the process like never before. Partly because we have a Republican Party that once championed a lighter state but now seems to advocate a government that is corrupt, or incompetent, or simply absent.
And partly because that is too often true even among well-meaning people, including Democrats: that we become so bogged down in procedures and bureaucracy that we don’t deliver results quickly enough to truly change people’s lives. People grow frustrated at not seeing enough change, and that’s why we need serious people in Washington and in state capitals. We are living in grave times.
And what strikes me most right now is how little the people in charge take things seriously. People who care more about promoting themselves, showing off, posting on social media, and putting others down than lifting them up.
All of this means that when you meet someone like Sherrod, when you meet someone like Amy, someone who genuinely cares about people, someone who has a proven record and offers real solutions, someone who isn’t running to enrich himself or to bask in the spotlight, but to serve, you should realize how precious that is.
And we must rise to meet their expectations. We must elect Sherrod to the Senate and Amy to the governorship. Because Amy and Sherrod understand that this election isn’t about them. It’s about you. It concerns us all.
And there is one more thing they understand. They understand what ails us at the moment. What is it that destabilizes our country so profoundly? It isn’t only a matter of prices. It isn’t only an economic issue. Those things matter greatly, but this is also about values. The choices we face today carry a moral dimension.
We will not fix the economic or political systems that are broken until we restore our national compass, because a culture in which anything goes and those at the top think it is acceptable to lie, cheat, intimidate, and let money be the sole measure of value is not sustainable. And that is part of what is happening right now.
We have lost sight of what truly matters in life: taking care of our families, helping our neighbors, looking after our children, laughing with them, hugging them, keeping our word, acting with integrity, and treating others with respect. Simple, fundamental things. Long ago, this was not a matter of Democrat or Republican. It was American. It was human. It was how we treated one another. Just a little basic decency.
That is precisely what our public discourse lacks: just a little basic decency. We must remember the words of a 25-year-old pastor who, in a sermon delivered in 1954, said: “If we want to move forward today, we must go back and rediscover some values that we have set aside and that we hold dear.” That pastor was Martin Luther King Jr., at 25.
He said, “We have not learned to be just. We have not learned to be honest, kind, compassionate, sincere, and loving. And that is the core of our problem.” The real issue, he said, is that “despite our scientific and technological genius, we have made this world a neighborhood, but we have not harnessed our moral and spiritual genius to serve one another.”
And, Ohio, what was true then remains true today. Yes, we must reduce the cost of living. Yes, we must put money back in people’s pockets. Yes, we must end this war and root out corruption in Washington, but we will do none of that if we do not realign our moral compass as a nation.
If we do not return to some of those old virtues, if our fundamental attitude toward one another is to harm others so they won’t harm us first, if we are driven by fear rather than hope, if we think it acceptable to take children away from their parents or to cut programs for seniors or the vulnerable so that the powerful can have whatever they want, we will remain mired in anger and division.
And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being angry. I’m tired of being divided. I want to reach out to my neighbor and shake their hand. I want to roll up my sleeves and do something for someone else.
We didn’t get here overnight. We won’t get out of it overnight. And none of us should pretend that one person in a position of power will somehow save the day, and that the rest of us can simply go back to business as usual. We are all going to have to change some things.
But Ohio, here is what I know. This election can be a beginning. This election can be a turning point. This election can be a turning of the tide in America’s long journey toward a more perfect union.
Because if we are ready to mobilize en masse here in Ohio and across the nation, if we are ready to vote for change, and to vote for Democrats at all levels, then this election could well mark the moment when this country began to move in a better direction. When we leave behind our worst impulses and align our politics with our highest ideals, nothing can stop a change whose time has come. You and I, Ohio—proof of that already.
In ten days, you’ll have the chance to do it again. So I ask you: are you motivated? Are you ready to take action? Let’s make Amy Acton our governor. Let’s make Sherrod Brown our senator. Let us embark on the path toward a better America. Thank you, I love you.
God bless you. God bless the United States of America.