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The Flint, Mich. Event was the first of two events the former president will headline with Biden on Saturday, with another event later taking place in Detroit. Both events, the first time the duo has taken the stage with either on a presidential ticket since 2012, are set in predominantly black towns that will be critical to Biden’s success in Michigan on Tuesday.
Obama’s remarks included sweeping reprimands from Trump – including mocking his focus on crowd size and belittling his economic achievements – but Saturday’s first event in Flint stood out from Obama’s previous appearances in because of how the former president touted the character of Biden.
“Joe Biden is my brother. I love Joe Biden. And he will be a great president,” Obama said, noting that although he didn’t know Biden well when he picked him to be his running mate, he quickly learned that Biden treated everyone with “dignity and respect.”
“This sense of decency and empathy, the belief in hard work, family and faith, the belief that everyone matters is who Joe is and who he will be as president,” he said. Obama said, adding that Biden “made me a better president.”
“He has the character and the experience to make us a better country,” Obama added. “And he and Kamala (Harris) are going to fight, not for themselves, but for each of us. And we certainly can’t say that about the president we have right now.”
“Now he’s accusing doctors of taking advantage of this pandemic. Think about it,” Obama said incredulously. “He can’t understand, he doesn’t understand the idea that someone would risk their life to save others without trying to make money.”
Obama then got more personal as he wondered why Trump was so obsessed with crowd size at his events.
“Isn’t he better to worry? Nobody came to his birthday party when he was a kid? Was he traumatized,” Obama asked. “What’s with the crowds?”
These mocking lines were at the heart of Obama’s argument against Trump and for Biden.
“You know, when a country goes through a pandemic, that’s not what you’re supposed to worry about,” Obama said. “And that is the difference between Joe Biden and Trump. Trump cares about feeding his ego. Joe cares about protecting you and your family. And he’s less interested in feeding his ego with large crowds than in s. ‘Make sure he’s not going around making more and more people sick. That’s what you should expect from a president. ”
The location of their first joint appearance underscored the central question looming for Democrats: Will voters who did not run for Hillary Clinton vote for Biden?
Crowds of people waved signs and cheered along the road on a sunny Saturday afternoon as Obama and Biden arrived at their drive-through rally in Flint, Genesee County. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton had garnered 26,000 fewer votes there than Obama and Biden in 2012.
The second stop Saturday for Obama and Biden was scheduled for Detroit, Wayne County, where the drop in voters was even more dramatic. Clinton received 75,000 fewer votes there than the Democratic ticket in 2012.
Taken together, the two counties alone were 100,000 fewer votes in 2016 for Democrats. Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes.
“We cannot afford to be complacent,” Obama said. “Not this time. Not in this election. We were a little complacent in the last election.”
Horns honked loudly in the parking lot as Obama implored Michigan voters to “show up here like never before.” He asked people to “imagine if 60% of us voted, if 70% of us voted?”
The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically shaken the presidential race, with Democrats turning their campaign into a virtual campaign. Democratic officials are not questioning the decision, but say they are concerned about whether the absence of a traditional pitch program might not result in Biden votes in the margins they might need.
When Biden took the stage, he nodded that just hearing the former president speak could be cathartic for Democrats.
“Reminds you of how good it can be to listen to him, doesn’t it,” Biden joked.
Obama’s sharpest criticisms of Trump this month have focused on the coronavirus and that continued in Michigan on Saturday.
“What is his closing point? That people are too focused on Covid. He said it at one of his rallies. Covid, Covid, Covid, he complains,” Obama said in Florida this week. “He is jealous of the media coverage of Covid. If he had focused on Covid from the start, cases would not reach new records across the country this week.”
Obama on Saturday called the election critical for the country’s future. The former president noted that his speech took place during the Michigan-Michigan State football game, a heated rivalry where the Paul Bunyan Trophy was “at stake”.
“But this Tuesday,” Obama said. “Everything is at stake.”
This story has been updated with additional reports.
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