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Former President Barack Obama made a fierce first campaign appearance in person on behalf of Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Philadelphia on Wednesday, ridiculing President Trump for complaining about campaigning in Pennsylvania, contracting the coronavirus and hiding business deals with China.
“We know that you continue to do business with China because you have a secret bank account in China. How is that possible? “Obama asked his supporters who had been invited to listen to him speak at a rally in the parking lot of a Philadelphia sports complex. He was referring to a recent New York Times report that revealed previously unknown financial holdings of the President, at a time when Trump criticizes Biden’s ties to the country.
“Can you imagine if I had a secret bank account in China?” said the former president, dressed in a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his voice strained. “Can you imagine if I had a secret bank account in China when I was running for re-election?”
He added: “They would have called me Beijing Barry.”
“It’s not a great idea to have a president who owes a lot of money to people overseas,” Obama said, adding that he had probably paid more in income taxes working in a high school at an ice cream parlor in what Trump paid during each of his first two years as president: $ 750.
Obama’s long-awaited speech, the first of several he intends to deliver on behalf of Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, over the next two weeks, represented a complete reversal of his reluctance to enter into talks with Trump. directly. .
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“By the way, their TV ratings have dropped,” the former president said. “So you know that bothers him. But the thing is, this is not a reality show. This is the reality. And the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him showing that he is incapable of taking work seriously. “
Obama, who has helped raise millions for his former vice president online but has not appeared in person at campaign events during the coronavirus pandemic, criticized Trump’s failure to contain the outbreak in more personal terms than he has used before.
“Eight months after this pandemic, cases are increasing again throughout this country,” he said. “Donald Trump is not going to suddenly protect us all. You can’t even take the basic steps to protect yourself. “
Obama, whose elevated campaign style masks an instinct to go for the jugular, took advantage of a Trump misstep Tuesday when the president told supporters at a rally in western Pennsylvania that he would not have visited if his campaign had not. it would have been ‘fighting.
“The president spent time in Erie last night and apparently complained about having to travel here,” Obama said with a laugh. Then he interrupted the event. Poor guy. I do not feel like it. I love coming to Pennsylvania. “
Obama is scheduled to hold his next event Saturday in Miami, followed by another rally in Orlando next week, according to a Democratic official with knowledge of his plans.
Obama, who traveled to Philadelphia in August to deliver a televised speech at the virtual Democratic National Convention that portrayed the election as an existential battle for the future of American democracy, touched on those same issues on his return visit Wednesday.
He warned Democrats not to back down because polls showed Biden with an advantage and said some had gotten “lazy” in 2016.
“I don’t care about the polls,” he said, before referring to Hillary Clinton’s leadership in the polls. “There were a lot of polls last time. It didn’t work. “
“We have to get over the other side,” he added, as the Democratic horns began to sound in unison.
