Obama slams Trump as unfit, says Biden will preserve US democracy

Former US President Barack Obama assaulted his successor, Donald Trump, on Wednesday as deeply unfit for the office he occupies and argued that voting for his former number two, Joe Biden, was necessary to ensure American democracy's very survival.

"He showed no interest in putting the work into action; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using his office 's awesome power to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality shows that he can use it to get the attention he desires," Obama said of Trump during the Democratic National Convention's third night.

"Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't. And the consequences of that failure are severe," he continued, blaming Trump for the 170,000 Americans who died as a result of the coronavirus, the millions of jobs lost as a result of the recession and the decline in the democratic principles of the country at home and overseas.

Having avoided direct criticism for most of Trump's first term, Obama's scathing broadsides constituted an unusually harsh appraisal of one president by another. His assertion that Trump, a Republican, is incapable of meeting the demands of the presidency echoed the remarks from his wife, Michelle Obama, on Monday, that Trump "simply cannot be who we need him to be."


Biden was formally nominated for the November 3 presidential election on Tuesday evening to take on Trump. US Senator Kamala Harris, his vice presidential pick, also spoke on Wednesday, while Biden would do so on Thursday.

Obama, who remains immensely popular with Democratic voters, also used his speech to give Biden, who served as his vice president for two years, a personal endorsement.

"Joe was the last in the room for eight years, whenever I was faced with a big decision," he said. "He made me a better president-and to make us a better country, he has the character and the experience."

Obama's speech was delivered from the American Revolution Museum in Philadelphia, the city where the US Constitution-and the founding democratic ideals of the republic-was written.

"The one constitutional office elected by all of the people is the presidency," he said. "So at a minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us. ... But we should also expect a president to be the custodian of this democracy."

Trump, he said, had failed those tests.

On Twitter, Trump responded to Obama's appearance with a post in all-capital letters: "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?"

Obama also urged Americans to vote, warning that Trump and his Republican allies can win only by making it difficult for those who oppose them to vote, rather than on the merit of their policies.

"Do not let them take away your power," he said. "Do not let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote.

SOURCE: Reuters news agency