Former President Barack Obama kicked off a battleground-state blitz Thursday as the 2024 presidential election enters its final weeks, headlining a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania where he repeatedly and forcefully attacked former President Donald Trump as arrogant and out-of-touch.
"He’s not thinking about you,” Obama said. “Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to an ends."
“The tweets in all caps. The ranting and raving about crazy conspiracy theories. The two-hour speeches, word salad... constant attempts to sell you stuff. Who does that? Peddling gold sneakers and a $100,000 watch and Trump Bible. He wants you to buy the word of God, Donald Trump edition! He’s got his name right there next to a picture of Matthew and Luke,” Obama taunted.
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Speaking to a packed audience in a basketball stadium at the University of Pittsburgh, Obama highlighted the stakes of the election, emphasizing the need to put Harris and Gov. Tim Walz in the White House because they “won’t be focused on their problems – they’ll be focused on yours.”
The former president’s stop in the steel city comes as Harris’ campaign seeks to capitalize on his popularity with the Democratic base, leaning on him to “move the needle,” with voters who are unengaged.
It’s a problem he took issue with prior to the rally, stopping at a local campaign office where he questioned why some parts of the so-called ‘Obama coalition’ -- Black Americans and young voters especially –are still unenthused.
“My understanding, based on reports I'm getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” he said.
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President Joe Biden won 87% of Black Americans and 60% of voters under 30 in 2020, compared to the 95% of Black voters and 66% of those under 30 Obama won in 2008. Those margins have improved since Harris rose to the top of the ticket – she's currently winning the support of 82% of Black voters and 52% of those under 30 -- but they’re still far short of what Obama reached.
“I’m speaking to men directly: part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that,” Obama continued. “And now, you’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that’s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down? That’s not acceptable.”
Obama takes on Trump for policy, personality
During his rally, Obama also spoke to many of Trump’s key policy highlights, including the economy – where polls show Trump still maintains a lead over Harris in voters’ minds. Obama suggested any gains there were because of his own presidency.
“The reason some people think, remember that economy when he first came in being pretty good - it was pretty good because it was my economy,” Obama said to raucous applause. “I spent eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans had left me the last time.”
And on his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, Obama assailed the former president for only having “concepts of a plan,” something Trump admitted during the recent presidential debate.
“The other day, his running mate had the nerve to say Donald Trump ‘salvaged’ the Affordable Care Act. Donald Trump spent his entire Presidency trying to tear it down. And by the way, he couldn’t even do that right,” Obama said. “And now, eight years after he was elected... he says has “concepts” of a plan for how he’d replace it.”
Obama’s presence on the campaign trail comes as the race for the White House remains neck-and-neck, both nationally and in Pennsylvania. A poll by Emerson College and The Hill conducted earlier this month showed former President Donald Trump leading Harris by just one point, 50-49, well within the survey’s margin of error.
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Obama remains immensely popular with Democratic voters – an August poll by the Economist and YouGov found his approval north of 90% among Democrats – well above approval ratings for President Joe Biden and matched only by his wife Michelle, widely seen as the most popular Democratic figure in recent political history.
According to the former president’s spokesperson, Obama’s campaign aim is to persuade and mobilize voters, especially in states with key down ballot races, and the former president is expected to embark on something of a battleground-state blitz in the coming weeks, an advisor told Scripps News. He’s already taped ads for Democratic candidates in Michigan, Maryland and Florida – all crucial to Democrats’ chances of holding onto Senate control. And Thursday morning, he released an ad for Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), who’s facing a tough reelection bid in the keystone state.
The former president has also prioritized reaching voters in new and different ways: taping traditional robocalls and ads but also social media content with influencers and podcast interviews.
The goal, advisors say, is to reach young voters who aren’t tuned into traditional media sources. Rallygoers present were hopeful Obama could deliver on that promise.
“There’s not been an election this significant in our lifetime,” said Matthew Stufft of Pittsburgh. “He can get the youth really involved and I hope he does that tonight.”
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Speaking on the rally floor shortly before Obama took the stage, 19-year-old Ava Nicholas told Scripps News she was excited to cast her first-ever ballot for Vice President Harris. She noted some of her peers felt turned off by the political process – especially as Israel’s war in Gaza persists – yet stressed the need for young people such as herself to vote even though they may may not agree with the candidates on every issue.
“Even if you're not playing the game, you can still lose,” Nicholas said. “Just not voting doesn't mean that you're going to get the outcome that you want. So although Kamala Harris, I don't agree with her on every single issue -- the Israel-Gaza crisis being one of them -- I think that voting for her is a big step in the right direction, versus voting for Donald Trump.”
Nicholas wasn’t even born when Obama first took office. Yet she said she recognizes the importance of his election, and hoped its history-making qualities would repeat in 2024.
“Even though I don't remember [Obama’s election], I just know how incredibly impactful it is, just being biracial, being black in the United States,” she said. “The first black president-- and then him supporting the first biracial female president in the United States. It's just so incredible to be a part of it in any way,”
