Barack Obama has shared a no-nonsense response to Americans who are frustrated with the way Donald Trump has been leading the country.

Donald Trump and Barack Obama pictured at Trump's first inauguration, 2017. Credit: Kevin Dietsch-Pool / Getty Images.

With Donald Trump back in the White House, a lot of Democrats are feeling frustrated, stuck, or just plain unsure of what to do next. There’s tension within the party, plenty of debate about what direction to take, and real concern over how to push back with any impact.

But Barack Obama has a pretty clear answer: get off the sidelines.

The former president showed up at a private fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey, on Friday night with a straight-talking message for Democrats: stop moping, stop waiting for someone else to fix things, and start showing up.

“Stop looking for the quick fix. Stop looking for the messiah. You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates,” Obama said during the event, which raised a huge $2.5 million for the Democratic National Committee. “Make sure that the DNC has what it needs to compete in what will be a more data-driven, more social media-driven cycle, which will cost some money and expertise and time.”

But that was just the warm-up. Obama had a bit of a reality check for anyone in the party who’s tuned out or thrown their hands up. “I think it’s going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions. And it’s going to require Democrats to just toughen up,” he said, via CNN.

“You know, don’t tell me you’re a Democrat, but you’re kind of disappointed right now, so you’re not doing anything. No, now is exactly the time that you get in there and do something,” he added.

“Don’t say that you care deeply about free speech and then you’re quiet. No, you stand up for free speech when it’s hard. When somebody says something that you don’t like, but you still say, ‘You know what, that person has the right to speak.’ … What’s needed now is courage.”

The event was hosted by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and his wife, Tammy, and also featured Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who’s running for governor in the state. Obama called her (and Virginia’s Democratic nominee, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger) “powerful spokespersons for a pragmatic, commonsense desire to help people and who both have remarkable track records of service.”

And while a lot of the party has been caught up in internal debates between progressive ideals and more moderate approaches like the so-called "abundance agenda," Obama made it clear that action matters more than ideological perfection.

Credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images.

“There’s been, I gather, some argument between the left of the party and people who are promoting the quote-unquote abundance agenda. Listen, those things are not contradictory. You want to deliver for people and make their lives better? You got to figure out how to do it,” he said.

“I don’t care how much you love working people. They can’t afford a house because all the rules in your state make it prohibitive to build. And zoning prevents multifamily structures because of NIMBY,” he added. “I don’t want to know your ideology, because you can’t build anything. It does not matter.”

Though Obama has been fairly quiet since Trump returned to office in January, he’s started speaking out more.

He’s previously called out Trump’s tariffs and warned that the U.S. is “dangerously close” to sliding into autocracy.

At Friday’s event, he said he’s “not surprised by what Trump’s done” and that “there are no more guardrails within the Republican Party.” He also urged institutions like law firms and universities to push back against pressure and intimidation from the current administration.

His message to everyday Democrats? It’s time to get uncomfortable.

“What’s being asked of us is make some effort to stand up for the things that you think are right,” he said. “And be willing to be a little bit uncomfortable in defense of your values. And in defense of the country. And in defense of the world that you want to leave to your children and your grandchildren.

"And if we all do that, if we do our jobs over the next year and a half, then I think we will rebuild momentum and we will position ourselves to get this country moving in the direction it should.”

Featured image credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images.

Former US President Barack Obama has launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump during the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

Throughout the address, Obama said that Trump showed "no interest in putting in the work" and "no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves."

Obama's full speech can be seen below:

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In his powerful speech, Obama used the word democracy 18 times and warned the US people: "What we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come."

Upon starting his speech, Obama quickly took aim at the fact that he believes Donald Trump has not taken the last four years seriously.

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Obama said: "The one Constitutional office elected by all of the people is the presidency.

"So at minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us - regardless of what we look like, how we worship, who we love, how much money we have - or who we voted for."

He then added: "I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously [...] But he never did."

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In a devastating blow, Obama then referred to the COVID-19 death toll and Trump's response to the pandemic. He said:

"Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't. And the consequences of that failure are severe.

"170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before."

During the address, Obama also took aim at Donald Trump's recent comments surrounding postal voting. He said:

"They know they can't win you over with their policies. So they're hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn't matter. That's how they win. That's how they get to keep making decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love."

During the speech, Obama then endorsed "his friend" Joe Biden - stressing that when Joe Biden is being spoken to, he listens. Obama said:

"That empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts - that's who Joe is.

When he talks with someone who's lost her job, Joe remembers the night his father sat him down to say that he'd lost his.

"When Joe listens to a parent who's trying to hold it all together right now, he does it as the single dad who took the train back to Wilmington each and every night so he could tuck his kids into bed.

"When he meets with military families who've lost their hero, he does it as a kindred spirit; the parent of an American soldier; somebody whose faith has endured the hardest loss there is."

Obama then went on to explain how Joe Biden helped to make him a better president.

Speaking of Biden's partnership with Kamala Harris, Obama said that the pair will "get this pandemic under control", "expand healthcare", and "rescue the economy".

In response to Obama's address, President Trump has taken to Twitter to say: "HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!"

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Adding: "WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?"

Whenever the White House gets handed over from the Democrats to Republicans (or vice versa) after an election, there are always noticeable juxtapositions in the way that government is handled. Republicans tend to take a harder line on economic policies, for example, whereas Democrats often make waves in the realm of social change.

However, no two consecutive presidents in history have ever been as opposite as Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

The former - America's first African American leader - was hailed as a marker of progress, a highly-educated leader, and a man with genuine empathy and respect for his country. Trump, on the other hand, is known as a hard-headed businessman, a womanizer, and, by his own admission a man who wants to make America great "again" by somehow taking it back to the 'good old days'.

But the disparity between the former and current presidents never truly hit home until people began sharing images of how each one reacted to the most horrific school shootings of their respective terms.

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Trump, who last year signed a measure that would make it easier for mentally ill people to purchase weapons (and yet blames mass shootings on mental health problems), visited some of the victims of the recent Parkland shooting last week.

During his visit, he appeared to be all smiles, and was even flashing a thumbs up in several pictures. A recent image of his personal notes also showed that he had to be reminded to show empathy to the victims, with one of the bullet points saying "I hear you".

In contrast, images of Obama after the Sandy Hook shooting show a man who is truly distraught at the deaths of so many young citizens. He spent the following days working, comforting families, and making tearful speeches about gun control in the country. Trump, on the other hand, went about his usual routine.

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After Trump's brief visit to the hospital, many people called him out for his hypocritical behavior.

"Him coming here is absolutely absurd, and he's a hypocrite," said Mark Bogen, the vice mayor of Florida's Broward County. "How can you come here and talk about how horrible it is when you support these laws?"

He went on:

"So President Trump now, based on his actions, allows mentally ill people to purchase guns when over a year ago they could not, and then comes down here and wants to act as though this is horrible, and this shouldn't happen, but goes back to Washington and supports it.

"It is hypocrisy, it is absolute hypocrisy."

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Many students who were present during the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week have since stood up to Trump and other pro-gun politicians in order to make their opinions on the matter heard.

Emma Gonzales, who has been at the forefront of the student-led campaign to regulate gun control, said at a rally this weekend:

“If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy, and how it should never have happened, and maintain telling us how nothing is going to be done about it, I’m going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association."

Needless to say, Trump is still maintaining a hard line on his gun stance at present, and has even suggested that he wants to see more weapons in classrooms by arming teachers.

 

Cast your minds back almost two years ago, to January 20th, 2017. Donald Trump had won the election two months prior, and the day had finally come for him to be officially inaugurated.

The weather was miserable, the turnout was disappointing (unless you ask Trump, who probably thought it was "tremendous"), and the nationwide reaction was pretty negative, on the whole.

While most of the attention was on the 45th president that day, a great deal of it was also given to his predecessor, Barack Obama, and his wife, Michelle. Throughout the ceremony, they looked cool and collected - but everybody knew a storm must have been brewing underneath.

And, sure enough, now Michelle has released a book and started to dish the real dirt on how she felt back then.

Melania Trump (L), former President Barack Obama (2nd-R) and former First Lady Michelle Obama walk together following the inauguration, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2017. President-Elect Donald Trump was sworn-in as the 45th President. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images)" width="1024" height="755" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

While speaking with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, Obama shared details about the process of writing her book, struggles she faced during her marriage, and how she felt right after Donald Trump was sworn in as president.

It was Fallon who raised this last topic, as he held up a picture of Obama with her husband waving from Air Force One on the day of the inauguration.

The talk show host was about to ask about her feelings in that moment, and started to say, "Can you just, walk me through..." but Obama cut him off with just two words:

"Bye, Felicia," she said, to rapturous applause.

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"Is that what was going through your mind?" Fallon asked.

"Eh, a lot was going on that day!" Obama replied. "That was a day."

The former first lady also revealed that her daughter had a sleepover the night before the ceremony, in order to say goodbye to the White House for the last time, and that it had been stressful to get ready on schedule.

"I was like, 'Get out, we gotta go!' the 54-year-old said. "And then there was the Tiffany's box. That was a lot."

In her book, the mother-of-two actually admitted that she stopped pretending to look happy during the day.

"Someone from Barack's administration might have said that the optics there were bad, that what the public saw didn't reflect the President's reality or ideals, but in this case, maybe it did," she wrote. "Realizing it, I made my own optic adjustment. I stopped even trying to smile."

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But not everything she had to say on The Tonight Show was pessimistic. After she'd opened up about the stress of leaving her position as first lady, she went on to tell Fallon about the optimism she has for the future, and how she believes that all people can build themselves up from nothing, just as she did.

You can check out the interview here.

The former first lady Michelle Obama has criticized Donald Trump's abilities as president of the United States in a rousing speech delivered at the end of the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention on Monday.

In her 19-minute address, Obama also endorsed Joe Biden, urging the US people to turn up to the polling stations in November to vote Trump out of power.

Watch Obama's full speech below:

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In the prerecorded speech, Obama lambasted President Trump's "utter lack of empathy", adding:

"Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country.

"He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is."

She added: "So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it."

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Obama also spoke about how the country has changed since her husband left the Oval Office, saying:

"More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long.

"It has left millions of people jobless. Too many have lost their health care; too many are struggling to take care of basic necessities like food and rent; too many communities have been left in the lurch to grapple with whether and how to open our schools safely.

"Internationally, we've turned our back, not just on agreements forged by my husband, but on alliances championed by presidents like Reagan and Eisenhower."

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Referencing the Black Lives Matter movement that has swept across the US over the last few months, Obama said:

"Here at home, as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered, stating the simple fact that a Black life matters is still met with derision from the nation's highest office."

Obama then harked back to her powerful 2016 Democratic National Convention speech, as she called for Americans to keep "going high" while others are continuing to "go low".

"But let’s be clear: Going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty.

"Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences."

Addressing Joe Biden, Obama then said: "Now, Joe is not perfect. And he'd be the first to tell you that.

"But there is no perfect candidate, no perfect president. And his ability to learn and grow—we find in that the kind of humility and maturity that so many of us yearn for right now. Because Joe Biden has served this nation his entire life without ever losing sight of who he is; but more than that, he has never lost sight of who we are, all of us."

In a follow-up tweet following her speech, Michelle Obama reiterated her stance to her 16.4 million followers: "If we want to end the chaos and division—and keep alive the possibility of progress on the issues we hold dear—we’ve got to vote for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris like our lives depend on it. Register today by texting VOTE to 30330."

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Sen. Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama are both expected to deliver live speeches from various locations across the country across the rest of the convention.

In addition, Biden is currently being billed to formally accept the party’s nomination on Thursday and deliver the convention's concluding speech.

Yesterday, in the wake of pro-Trump rioters storming the US Capitol, Barack Obama issued a statement in which he said in no uncertain terms that the violence was incited by Donald Trump.

Obama said that Wednesday's events would go down in history and accused the president of "baselessly" lying about the "outcome of a lawful election".

In a statement shared on Twitter, the former US president told his 127 million followers that "history will rightly remember today's violence at the Capitol, incited by a sitting president who has continued to baselessly lie about the outcome of a lawful election, as a moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation."

He also said, "we'd be kidding ourselves if we treated it as a total surprise."

"For two months now," the Democrat added, "a political party and its accompanying media ecosystem has too often been unwilling to tell their followers the truth - that this was not a particularly close election and that president-elect Biden will be inaugurated on January 20."

"Their fantasy narrative has spiraled further and further from reality, and it builds upon years of sown resentments. Now we're seeing the consequences, whipped up into a violent crescendo."

Related video - This is the advice Barack Obama says he would give President Donald Trump:

He continued, "Right now, Republican leaders have a choice made clear in the desecrated chambers of democracy. They can continue down this road and keep stoking the raging fires.

"Or they can choose reality and take the first steps toward extinguishing the flames. They can choose America.

"I've been heartened to see many members of the President's party speak up forcefully today. Their voices add to the examples of Republican state and local election officials in states like Georgia who've refused to be intimidated and have discharged their duties honorably.

"We need more leaders like these — right now and in the days, weeks, and months ahead as President-Elect Biden works to restore a common purpose to our politics. It's up to all of us as Americans, regardless of party, to support him in that goal."

Obama's Republican predecessor George W Bush also issued a statement on yesterday's riots.

"I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election," he said while referring to the riots as "mayhem" and resembling a "banana republic".