Former president Barack Obama intensified his criticism of Donald Trump at an Arizona rally Friday night, portraying the Republican nominee as a con artist unfit for leadership and challenging his competence by comparing him to a bumbling "grandpa."
The remarks were the latest of Obama's increasingly harsh criticisms of the former president.
Obama targeted Trump's strange town hall appearance earlier this week in XX when he swayed onstage to music for nearly 40 minutes instead of taking questions. "You'd be concerned if your grandpa was behaving this way. Tucson, we don't need to witness an unrestrained, increasingly erratic Donald Trump."
"When he's not whining, he's busy trying to sell you things," Obama added with a smirk, eliciting laughter from the crowd. "Take this one: He's selling the Trump Bible — wants you to buy the word of God, Donald Trump edition."
Obama then delivered thel punchline, pointing out that the Bibles were printed in China.
"So, [he's] Mr. Tough Guy on China, except when he's looking to profit from his Trump edition Bibles," Obama quipped. "You really can't make this up."
“You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this” — Obama pic.twitter.com/31Vvtvi2Fh
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 18, 2024
Obama also compared Trump's character to that of the late Sen. John McCain.
Obama pointed out that he was friends with McCain, who "understood that some values go beyond party lines. He believed in honest debate and listening to differing viewpoints. He never demonized his political opponents," Obama added.
"When Donald Trump lies, cheats, bullies, or shows complete disregard for our Constitution— like when he calls service members such as John McCain losers because they died in battle or were captured — people make excuses, saying it's acceptable as long as their side wins," Obama noted.
Trump, who dodged the Vietnam War draft on a "bone spurs" medical excuse reportedly supplied by a doctor friend of his father, attacked McCain for being captured when he was a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War. McCain spent five years in a Hanoi prisoner of war camp.
"He's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured," Trump said while campaigning for the presidency in 2015. After McCain's death, Trump said in 2019: "I was never a fan of John McCain and I never will be."
McCain was honored with two Purple Hearts among several other military honors before he went on toe represent Arizona in both the House and the Senate for decades.
Obama attacked Trump before a crowd of some 7,000 people inside the University of Arizona's football practice facility the night before the eagerly awaited homecoming game.
Harris and Obama are scheduled to appear together in Georgia Thursday, while Michelle Obama will join Harris in Michigan on October 26.
