Former President Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail in the Midwest this weekend, delivering a blistering critique of what he characterized as a culture of “cruelty” and indecency within the Republican party. Stepping into the final stretch of one of the nation’s most contentious midterm cycles, the 65-year-old former president used stops in Ohio and Michigan to rally the Democratic base and address personal attacks leveled against his party’s candidates.
In Ohio, the political atmosphere has been charged by a controversial advertising campaign from Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The ad features the estranged mother of the Democratic candidate, Dr. Amy Acton, calling her a liar and questioning her character. The advertisement has drawn rare bipartisan condemnation within the state, with Republican Governor Mike DeWine and other GOP leaders calling for its removal. However, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended the tactic, leading to a national flashpoint just over a week before the November 3 election.
Addressing a crowd in Ohio, Obama specifically singled out Ramaswamy for the strategy. “In recent days, we’ve seen there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to,” Obama said. He noted that Acton has been open about a childhood marked by abuse, neglect, and homelessness—experiences Obama suggested were being weaponized for political gain.
Dr. Acton, who rose to prominence as Ohio’s health director during the COVID-19 pandemic, spoke alongside Obama in Cleveland. She addressed her opponent’s tactics directly, asserting that decency still matters in American politics. Acton has previously detailed a traumatic upbringing where her mother, Donna Arthur, lost custody of her children after Acton’s stepfather, Cledith Arthur, was indicted on a rape charge involving Acton in the late 1970s. Cledith Arthur eventually became a fugitive after failing to appear in court and died in 2004. Donna Arthur remained married to him throughout that period. In the current campaign cycle, the Ramaswamy ad uses Donna Arthur to attack her daughter’s credibility.
“My opponent has chosen to exploit, intentionally, my childhood to save his stumbling campaign, but it’s not going to work,” Acton told the rally. She characterized Ramaswamy as “out for yourself” and a “danger” to the state.
From Ohio, Obama traveled to Michigan, another critical battleground where the balance of power in the Senate and the governor’s mansion is at stake. In Detroit, he focused his efforts on bolstering Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official running for the Senate against Republican Mike Rogers. Obama’s appearance in a city that is three-quarters Black was seen as a strategic move to energize a demographic that is vital for Democratic victory. In the primary, El-Sayed had lost Wayne County to Haley Stevens by about six percentage points, and the campaign is now looking to close that gap.
Obama used the Detroit stage to push back against claims that El-Sayed is a “radical,” a label often used by Republican critics. He also addressed attacks regarding El-Sayed’s faith and background, drawing a parallel to the “birther” conspiracy theories that targeted his own presidency. “We have seen this movie before. I starred in it,” Obama told a packed high school gymnasium. “I’ve got a long-form birth certificate to prove it. Abdul is as Michigan as it gets.”
In a moment of levity and intra-party reconciliation, Obama acknowledged that El-Sayed had been critical of his administration in the past. Following Obama’s 2012 reelection, El-Sayed wrote that Obama “was not the right choice—he just wasn’t the wrong one,” arguing the president had not sufficiently fulfilled his progressive promises. Obama dismissed the friction with a joke. “You know who else doesn’t agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama, about five times a day,” he said to laughter from the crowd.
While Obama was in the Midwest, President Trump was active in Florida and Georgia. Casting his own ballot in Florida on Saturday, Trump doubled down on his support for Ramaswamy’s controversial ad. “The mother said that Amy Acton is a liar, and she’s no good,” Trump told reporters. “And you know what? I don’t think you can get a better reference on that.”
Later, during a rally in Perry, Georgia, Trump mocked Obama’s Michigan event, claiming the venue was empty. Trump was in the state to support the Republican rivals of Senator Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, whom Obama is scheduled to campaign with next week.
Throughout his speeches, Obama did not spare the sitting president from personal criticism. He accused the Trump administration and the president’s family of corruption and mocked Trump’s focus on White House renovations, including the construction of a new ballroom and a helipad on the South Lawn. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovation,” Obama quipped, suggesting the president should be on HGTV. “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
Turning to the stakes of the election, Obama reminded voters that while Trump remains in office for another two years, the midterms represent a chance to change the legislative landscape. He described a “spineless Congress” and Republican governors as being indifferent to the struggles of working people. “After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence… you get a chance to say enough is enough,” he said.
Local organizers in Detroit echoed the urgency of Obama’s message. Voters like Cheryl McWilliams, 67, said the former president’s presence was necessary to “pump you up to vote.” She emphasized that turnout in Detroit is the deciding factor for statewide races. Others, like canvasser Chunnika Hodges, noted that some Black voters have expressed interest in the Republican candidate, Rogers, out of frustration with a perceived lack of change under Democratic leadership. “There are conservative Blacks, conservative Democrats,” Hodges observed, noting that some voters remain wary of El-Sayed’s more progressive policy platform.
As the campaign moves into its final week, the focus shifts to Georgia, where both Obama and Trump are expected to continue their proxy battle for control of the government.
