Former President Barack Obama on Saturday ushered in one of the nation’s ugliest midterm elections, capturing brutal and obscene behavior by President Donald Trump and his Republican allies as he sought to rally Democratic voters in the battleground state of Ohio.
President Obama specifically targeted Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who doubled down on an ad featuring the estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Dr. Amy Acton. President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance also defended the ad, as Republican leaders across Ohio, including Gov. Mike DeWine, called for its removal.
“In the last few days, we’ve seen that there’s no line he can’t cross, no rock bottom he won’t fall into,” Obama said of Ramaswamy, noting that Acton “spoke movingly about his difficult childhood and everything he went through, the abuse, the neglect, the homelessness.”
“We should expect common sense from our public servants,” Obama continued. “And I don’t know what happened where standards of conduct were so low that someone could run an ad like that.”
Obama, 65, remains the Democratic Party’s biggest champion nearly a decade after leaving the White House. He is scheduled to campaign in Michigan late Saturday night, giving Democrats star power in a Midwestern battleground that will help determine the balance of power in American politics next week.
President Obama took to the stage with Mr. Acton and former three-term Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is seeking to oust Republican Sen. Jon Husted.
Ohio has become more certain to support Republicans, but it has become a battleground state this year. Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance have visited the state in recent weeks to drum up support for Mr. Husted and Mr. Ramaswamy. And the controversy over Ramaswamy’s ad has further raised the already high temperature.
Ramaswamy defended his decision to press ahead with advertising as a fair move. Trump, who voted in West Palm Beach on Saturday, vigorously defended the ad, which became a national flashpoint in the final days of the midterm elections.
“This is shameful,” President Trump said. “My mother said Amy Acton was a liar and a no-no. So, you know what? I don’t think that’s any more helpful.” He added that if his own mother said anything bad about him, it would be a blank slate.
In Ramaswamy’s campaign video, Acton’s biological mother Donna Arthur calls her a “liar” and suggests she has mental health issues.
Acton, the Ohio health director during the coronavirus pandemic, has not publicly acknowledged that he faced homelessness and abuse as a child. Arthur’s husband and stepfather was charged with rape, including of Acton, and Arthur lost custody of her children.
The abuse allegedly occurred between December 1976 and April 1978. Credit Arthur failed to appear in court and became a fugitive. Donna Arthur remained married to him until his death in 2004.
Mr. Acton appeared before Mr. Obama and spoke as if he were addressing Mr. Ramaswamy directly.
“My opponent has deliberately chosen to use my childhood to save his stumbling campaign, and that’s not going to work,” she said. “Courtesy still matters.” He added, “Mr. Ramaswamy, you are not just out of line. You are acting in your own interest and are a danger to my state. Apparently, there is no minimum situation you will not succumb to.”
After finishing in Ohio, President Obama headed to Abdul El-Sayed’s rally in Detroit. Abdul El-Sayed is a former public health official who helped unite Michigan’s Democratic base by winning a polarizing primary by less than 1 percentage point. El-Sayed is running against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers.
Mr. Obama’s appearance in the city, which is three-quarters black, could increase support for Mr. El-Sayed among black voters. In the primary, her opponent, Haley Stevens, defeated Wayne County, which includes Detroit, by about six points. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black and South Asian vice president, campaigned for Mr. El-Sayed in September.
After his 2012 reelection, El-Sayed criticized Obama for not following through on all of his progressive campaign promises, writing that Obama “wasn’t the right choice. It just wasn’t the wrong choice.”
El-Sayed told reporters earlier this month that while he credited the former president with being “foundational” to his ability to run for president, he still disagreed with elements of Obama’s term in office.
In Michigan, elections for governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are also open to the public. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson will appear on the ballot along with other candidates. Benson is running against Republican Rep. John James.
President Obama is scheduled to headline a rally in Georgia next week with Sen. Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms. President Trump is scheduled to speak in Georgia on Saturday.
In Ohio, President Obama also criticized President Trump for failing to cut costs, a key campaign promise, saying the president was instead focused on building a new White House ballroom and helipad on the South Lawn.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems to be very focused on renovating the house,” he joked. “He should be on HGTV.” She continued, “There’s money everywhere. He’s got a White House that looks like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory.”
The former Democratic president acknowledged that Trump will be in the country for two more years before his term ends. But voters aren’t sticking with Trump’s allies, he said.
“We are not stuck with a spineless Congress and a Republican governor dealing with misconduct, negligence, brutality and indifference to workers,” President Obama said. “After two years of chaos, brutality, corruption and incompetence, we now have the opportunity to say enough is enough.”
