Barack Obama held back his most scathing criticisms of President Donald Trump in the early years of his post-presidency, hoping that the lack of consistent attacks would make his voice even more powerful at a time he thought was most necessary.
That moment, Obama believes, is now.
The former president, according to people close to him, sees his years of cracking down on Trump as key to his ability to forcefully attack his successor on behalf of Joe Biden, his former running mate and the man running to oust a former president. President who has done tarnishing Obama’s legacy critical to his political rise.
Obama is now gleefully punishing Trump on Biden’s behalf, both exposing his political differences with his successor and scathingly criticizing some of Trump’s personal obsessions. Obama is paying close attention to Trump’s daily actions and has begun to incorporate those criticisms into his speeches, pressing the president on issues that Democrats know bother him.
And it is evident to anyone watching that Obama is enjoying cathartic liberation. “Can you imagine if I had a secret account in a Chinese bank when I was running for reelection?” Obama jokingly asked, citing a New York Times report on an undisclosed bank account Trump has in China. “They would have called me Beijing Barry.”
That strategy will continue this weekend, when Obama joins Biden in the election campaign in the key state of Michigan on Saturday.
An interview between basketball player LeBron James and Obama will air on Friday, the latest example of the former president seeking to engage young, black voters for Biden.
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Obama’s decision to maintain his rhetorical fire on Trump until the end of the campaign, said a source close to the former president, was “by design.”
“He has been selective as to when he has stepped in to preserve his ability to, down the stretch, make the most pointed case possible on the current occupant of the White House and get people to pay close attention,” said the adviser, who acknowledged that Obama is enjoying his role attacking Trump.
Obama’s goal, the adviser said, was to “leave a little bit in the tank” during the first years of Trump’s presidency so that he could “go there” once the elections started.
David Axelrod, a longtime friend and adviser to Obama, said that Biden also needed to firmly establish himself as the party’s nominee before Obama increased his visibility. Axelrod dismissed any criticism that the former president had not been active enough in this campaign, saying it would have been much riskier to emerge earlier, giving Trump more time to try to use Obama against Biden.
“In terms of its value, it’s been smart not to abuse it,” CNN contributor Axelrod said. “They’ve been using it in digital appeals targeting constituencies that Democrats need to wake up in this election – youth and people of color, who didn’t come out in the numbers Hillary Clinton expected four years ago.”
It’s not that Obama was completely silent during Trump’s presidency: The former president warned of the impacts of Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare in 2017, stepped up his attacks on Republicans during the 2018 midterm elections, and delivered a sober but scathing speech at the Democratic National Convention earlier this year. He has also participated in dozens of Democratic efforts to attract voters in 2020, including digital ads for candidates across the country.
But all of those forays into politics pale in comparison to the unbridled nature of Obama’s criticism in the closing days of the presidential campaign.
In Philadelphia last week, he questioned Trump’s fiscal policy and handling of the coronavirus, while launching personal criticism such as criticizing the reduction of the ratings of the president’s speeches and city councils.
“Really?” Obama asked in disbelief when he recalled that Trump had said he would not change much about his response to the pandemic. “Not much? Nothing you can think of that might have helped some people keep their loved ones alive?”
Days later, Obama said that Trump’s attempts to appear tough are all a facade. “He likes to act tough and talk tough. He thinks scowling and being mean is hard,” Obama told a rally in South Florida before noting that Trump had abruptly ended a high-profile interview. “But when ’60 Minutes’ and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you’re not that tough.”
And in the latest example of Obama paying close attention to the day-to-day news surrounding Trump, he mocked the president for lamenting that the media covered too much of the coronavirus.
“More than 225,000 people in this country have died. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed. Half a million jobs disappeared in Florida alone. Think about that,” Obama said. “And what is his final argument? That people are too focused on Covid. He said this at one of his rallies. Covid, Covid, Covid, he’s complaining. He’s jealous of the Covid media coverage.”
Obama spent years trying to stick to a long-standing tradition that former presidents avoid attacking their successors, and routinely tell people that they appreciate the way George W. Bush stayed out of electoral politics during his presidency. Trump, however, changed that calculation.
As one adviser put it: Trump has been a “rule-breaking president,” including the rule that former presidents avoid directly attacking their successors.
Obama’s resurgence has delighted Democrats and clearly infuriated Trump, who has begun tweeting about the former president as outlets like Fox News and others broadcast his speeches live.
“Obama is attracting a VERY small (miniscule) number of people,” Trump tweeted around Obama’s speech on Tuesday. “Biden attracts almost no one. We are attracting tens of thousands of people. You will see him again today. The Great Red Wave is coming !!!”
There has long been an imbalance in the Obama-Trump relationship: The current president mentioned his predecessor far more than Obama mentioned his successor.
But this latest effort by Obama has changed the relationship. Obama, after years of incessantly ignoring Trump by pushing conspiracy theories about him, has used his silence once and for all to elevate what he chooses to say when it matters most.
As much as Obama is enjoying hitting Trump, this election will be a central test for the former president, who to date has been unable to transfer his popularity to other Democrats. This was clearer in 2016, when her frequent forays into the presidential campaign failed to help Hillary Clinton get over the finish line, leading to Trump’s unexpected victory.
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