Former President Donald Trump didn’t fall into the media’s trap of asking for a “prebuttal” to speeches by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
“I like him. I think he’s a nice gentleman,” the Republican presidential nominee told CNN’s Kristen Holmes.
Trump added, however, that he thought Obama was “very, very weak on trade,” pointing to Japan and China.
“Take a look at what happened with some of these countries, what they did,” he continued.
“But I happen to like him,” Trump said. “I respect him and I respect his wife.”
JUST IN: Donald Trump says that he likes and respects Barack Obama.
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) August 21, 2024
“I like him, I think he’s a nice gentleman... But I happen to like him. I respect him, and I respect his wife.”
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/V4NgpiyVnp
The Obamas did not return the civility.
And as we gather here tonight, the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question:
Who will fight for me? Who’s thinking about my future; about my children’s future – about our future together?
One thing is for certain: Donald Trump is not losing sleep over these questions. This is a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala. The childish nicknames and crazy conspiracy theories and weird obsession with crowd size. It just goes on and on. The other day, I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day.
From a neighbor, that’s exhausting. From a president, it’s just dangerous. The truth is, Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to his ends. He wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help himand his rich friends. He killed a bipartisan immigration deal that would’ve helped secure our southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt his campaign. He doesn’t seem to care if more women lose their reproductive freedoms since it won’t affect his life.
Most of all, Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and them; between the real Americans who support him and the outsiders who don’t. And he wants you to think that you’ll be richer and safer if you just give him the power to put those “other” people back in their place.
It’s one of the oldest tricks in politics – from a guy whose act has gotten pretty stale. We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie – and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse. (Transcript of Barack Obama's DNC speech)
And from Michelle Obama's speech:
For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us.
See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. I want to know — I want to know — who’s going to tell him, who’s going to tell him, that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?
It’s his same old con. His same old con. Doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better.
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