Barack Obama has criticised Donald Trump’s second-term record as “cruelty and corruption” during a Democratic campaign rally in Ohio, accusing the president of making “a series of bad decisions”.
The former US president used the event to attack Trump’s foreign policy, including what he described as the “unnecessary war that nobody asked for” involving the US and Israel against Iran.
“After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in the modern era, you get a chance to say, ‘Enough is enough’,” Obama told voters.
Obama backs Ohio Democrats
Obama was campaigning alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton and Sherrod Brown, Ohio’s former Democratic senator, who is seeking to return to the Senate against Republican incumbent Jon Husted.
He also condemned a recent attack advertisement by Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy against Ms Acton, saying: “In recent days, we’ve seen there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to.”
The advertisement features Donna Arthur, Ms Acton’s mother, disputing her daughter’s account of a childhood marked by homelessness and sexual abuse by her stepfather, and urging Ohioans not to vote for her.
Ms Acton says she has not seen her mother since 1978. Her brother has backed her account of being sexually abused by her stepfather, who died in 2004 after being charged with rape.
Backing Ms Acton, Obama said she had “spoken movingly about her painful childhood and all she’s experienced: abuse, neglect and homelessness.”
Polls give Democrats a slight lead in both Ohio contests, although the results are expected to be close.
