(Pittsburgh) Barack Obama used all his oratorical talents on Thursday to sound the charge against Donald Trump, and deliver a plea for Democrat Kamala Harris, less than a month before the American presidential election.
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the icon of the American left sharply warned voters about the prospect of a “close election”.
In an America still marked by post-COVID-19 inflation, “there are a lot of Americans who are struggling. […] So I understand why people want change,” he agreed.
“What I can’t understand is that anyone can believe that Donald Trump is going to shake things up in a way that is good for you,” said the ex-president, in this cradle of American steel which is one of the handful of key states for the November 5 election.
Electoral lies, anti-migrant diatribes, threats to health coverage, an increase in customs duties which risks increasing prices for consumers: Mr. Obama delivered a detailed indictment against the Republican billionaire, in front of a crowd which sometimes booed Mr. Trump.
Retired schoolteacher Valerie Brown agrees. “I like to see and hear her way of expressing herself well, stimulating other people who might still be reluctant” to vote for Kamala Harris, she explains.
PHOTO MATT YORK, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris
“Don’t boo!” Vote! “, replied Mr. Obama, praising the “plan” proposed by Kamala Harris to grant tax cuts to the middle class, help first-time home buyers and subsidize the creation of small businesses.
“Kamala Harris is ready to do the job,” he insisted.
“We don’t need four more years of arrogance, clumsiness, bluster and division,” he said. “America is ready to turn the page. »
Message for his black “brothers”
Mr. Obama had already presented Kamala Harris as his heir with the slogan “Yes She Can” during the Democratic convention this summer. But after the excitement caused by the impromptu replacement of Joe Biden, the vice-president must now go the distance.
PHOTO MATT FREED, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former President Barack Obama took a walkabout after his speech.
On Wednesday, an opinion survey carried out by Quinnipiac University noted gains for Donald Trump in three strategic pivotal states: Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Polls have also shown for weeks that certain African-Americans are more tempted by the Republican tribune than in 2020.
In this context, Mr. Obama stopped in a neighborhood of Pittsburgh before his rally, to warn his “brothers” hesitant to rally Mme Harris.
“You give all kinds of reasons and excuses,” he scolded. “That poses a problem to me. This makes me think you don’t like the idea of having a woman as president. »
At his rally, he called on men in general not to confuse “bullying and putting people down” with “a sign of strength.”
After his appearance in Pittsburgh, the first black president of the United States is expected to engage in the fundraising effort, record television and telephone ads, and travel to the six other swing states for the final stretch of the vote.
According to several media, Mme Harris is also expected to soon bring former President Bill Clinton into her campaign, starting next weekend.
Trump touts his protectionism
For his part, Donald Trump led a protectionist offensive Thursday in Detroit, the capital of the automobile industry in Michigan (north).
PHOTO JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
He denounced the fact that the United States had allowed foreign companies to “invade and rape our country.”
“I want German automakers to become American automakers,” he told the Detroit Economic Club.
“They send their cars to us like we’re a bunch of idiots. BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, by the millions and millions and millions. We’re not going to get fooled anymore, okay? Now, they will have to play by our rules,” added the man who had led an ultra-protectionist economic policy under his presidency.
The 78-year-old tribune also continues to argue about the management of recent hurricanes, falsely accusing the government of not helping Republican territories: after the deadly storm Helene, Milton made landfall in Florida on Wednesday evening.
At a rally in Arizona on Thursday, the vice president explained that she had participated in a remote meeting with the White House to coordinate the response to Milton.
“I spoke with local officials, Republican and Democratic, to let them know that we will be with them throughout the recovery and reconstruction process,” she insisted.
The Democrat also regretted that her rival definitively ruled out organizing a second presidential debate with her on Wednesday evening.
“I think it does a disservice to voters,” she insisted, also seeing it “a sign of weakness.”