Obama slams Trump’s ‘cruelty and corruption’ at Ohio rally for Democrats

Former US president says Trump ‘chose to make a series of bad decisions’, highlighting the US-Israel war on Iran.

Former US President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at Cleveland Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 24, 2026 [Jeff Swensen/Getty Images via AFP]

Former United States President Barack Obama has criticised the “cruelty and corruption” during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Obama slammed Trump’s foreign policies on Saturday during a midterm election campaign rally in Ohio to support the state’s Democratic candidates.

list 1 of 3 ‘Foreign policy is the economy’: How Iran war is shaping US midterm vote

list 2 of 3 Has Vivek Ramaswamy’s attack ad against Amy Acton backfired?

list 3 of 3 How have Democrats’ policies shifted since the last major US election?

“The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions,” the 65-year-old Democrat said. “Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for,” he added, referring to the US-Israel war on Iran.

Obama urged Ohioans to vote against the Republican administration, saying: “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’.”

The former president also addressed the recent controversy in Ohio’s gubernatorial race surrounding an attack advertisement by Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy against Democrat Amy Acton.

“In recent days, we’ve seen there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to,” Obama said of Ramaswamy. “I don’t know what’s happened where the standards of behaviour are so low that somebody could run an ad like that.”

In the advertisement, Donna Arthur, Acton’s mother, disputes her daughter’s account of a childhood involving homelessness and ⁠⁠⁠⁠sexual abuse by her stepfather, urging Ohioans not to vote for her.

Acton says she has not seen her mother since 1978. Acton’s brother has supported her account of being sexually abused by her stepfather when she was a child. The stepfather, who died in 2004, was charged with rape.

Obama backed Acton, saying that she has “spoken movingly about her painful childhood and all she’s experienced: abuse, neglect and homelessness.”

The former president shared the rally stage with Acton and Ohio’s former Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown, who will attempt a comeback against incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted.

Polls give Democrats a slight lead in both Ohio races, but results are expected to be close.

美国前总统表示，特朗普“选择了一系列糟糕的决定”，并特别提到了美以对伊朗的战争。

2026年10月24日，美国前总统巴拉克·奥巴马在俄亥俄州克利夫兰市克利夫兰公共礼堂举行的竞选集会上发表讲话。[Jeff Swensen/Getty Images via AFP]

美国前总统巴拉克·奥巴马批评了唐纳德·特朗普总统第二任期内的“残酷和腐败”。

周六，奥巴马在俄亥俄州举行的中期选举竞选集会上抨击了特朗普的外交政策，此次集会旨在支持该州的民主党候选人。

列表 1/3 “外交政策即经济”：伊朗战争如何影响美国中期选举投票

列表 2/3：维韦克·拉马斯瓦米针对艾米·阿克顿的攻击性广告是否适得其反？

（共 3 项）自上次美国大选以来，民主党的政策发生了哪些变化？

这位65岁的民主党人说：“现任总统做出了一系列糟糕的决定。”他补充道：“最重要的是，他决定发动一场毫无必要的战争，这场战争是任何人都没有要求的。”他指的是美国和以色列对伊朗发动的战争。

奥巴马敦促俄亥俄州选民投票反对共和党政府，他说：“经过两年混乱、残酷、腐败和无能，这是我们在现代历史上从未见过的，你们有机会说，‘够了！’”

这位前总统还谈到了俄亥俄州州长竞选中最近发生的争议，该争议围绕共和党候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米针对民主党候选人艾米·阿克顿的攻击性广告展开。

奥巴马谈到拉马斯瓦米时说：“最近几天，我们看到他毫无底线，卑鄙无耻到了极点。我不知道究竟发生了什么，以至于人们的行为准则如此低下，竟然有人会投放这样的广告。”

在广告中，阿克顿的母亲唐娜·阿瑟反驳了女儿关于她童年时期无家可归和继父性虐待的说法，并敦促俄亥俄州人不要投票给她。

阿克顿说，她自1978年以来就没见过母亲。阿克顿的哥哥证实了她关于童年时期遭到继父性侵的说法。这位继父于2004年去世，曾被控强奸罪。

奥巴马支持阿克顿，称她“动情地讲述了她痛苦的童年以及她所经历的一切：虐待、忽视和无家可归”。

这位前总统与阿克顿和俄亥俄州前民主党参议员谢罗德·布朗同台亮相，后者将试图挑战现任共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特德。

民调显示，民主党在俄亥俄州的两场选举中都略微领先，但预计结果会很接近。