Obama rallies with El-Sayed, Democrats in Detroit

Back in Detroit, With your next governor, people who says that, it's Michelle Obama. She likes the election that I had. It comes along and feels a little bit different. Where people are so ready for something new, so hungry for something better, so sick and tired of being sick and tired, that everywhere you go, it feels like change is in the air. And Michigan, that's what I'm feeling right now. What you get a chance to do in 10 days, After 10 years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, tomfoolery, nonsense, the like of which this country has not seen in modern times at least, who gets to say enough is enough? We're voting for change right here in Michigan. By the way, while I'm at it, I'm not just asking you to vote for Bob Dole and Dust. I'm also asking you to vote for your next Secretary of State, Garland Gilchrist. your next Attorney General, Ellie Savitt, your next Congresswoman for the 10th District, Christina Hines, your Chief Justice, Megan Kavanaugh, and Justice Noah Hood. We're going to keep the state Senate, thanks to the leadership of Majority Leader Brinks, and back the statehouse, thanks to the work of Minority Leader Pernick. So we've got work to do. You've got that whole ballot you've got to fill out. The good news is you've got plenty of time because early voting started today. If you have not already voted, go to michigandems.com slash vote, and they'll tell you where to go. Now, I love you, Pat, but we've got some business to attend to now. Thank you, man. I'm going to come give you a kiss after we're done, and Michelle won't mind. So you just go ahead and have a seat. You don't have to stand the whole time now, man. I appreciate you. Now, I don't have to tell you how tough things are out there. Reminding ourselves just how we got here, The promises that the current occupant of the White House was making on the campaign trail years ago. It's always good to play back the tape because we've got a record at the club. A lot of people were already not crazy about the guy's character. They'd seen that on the show, frustrated about the post-COVID inflation, the price go up, and they heard him promise to get costs under control. That was what he said. I'm going to get costs under control. Those weren't the only promises he made. He also promised to impose tariffs that would bring down the deficit. He promised to stop getting us involved in unnecessary wars. He promised he'd pass a beautiful health care bill that would make everybody's lives better. He had been promising that since the first time he was president. Let's see how all these promises worked out. Let's run back the tape. Now, first, if you thought everything cost too much before, guess what? Everything costs more now. Your mortgage, your health care, your utility bill, interest rates are up. And then there's gas, $4 a gallon, $5 a gallon, diesel, over $6 climbing. Now, I want to be fair, because I believe in facts. And the fact is, as a former president, I can say this, sometimes factors beyond your control end up boiling your best-laid plan. You can say you're going to do something, and then there's some economic crisis, or something happens. So sometimes a president has to deal with things he didn't expect during the campaign period. But that's not the case here. In this case, the administration's actions are directly responsible for rising costs The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions, the most important of which was he decided to start an unnecessary war nobody had asked for and nobody voted for. Now, hey, by the way, those of you who've been to my rallies, you don't move here. What do you do? You vote. They can't hear you booing. They can hear you vote. I want you to think about this Iran war. The original rationale was, well, we're going to go in there, make them heat, bend with me, give up the nuclear program, the nuclear weapons. Of course, Iran didn't have nuclear weapons. We had curbed their nuclear program because I put in place a deal that everybody acknowledged had kept them from getting nukes. I didn't have to fire a missile. So, I engaged in diplomacy. So, months later, six months after, they declared a victory. Keep in mind, like, a month in, they're all like, oh, this is the greatest war ever. Look, I look, seven months later, how's that war going? Our allies and bases have been attacked. American soldiers have been killed. Hundreds of Americans have been killed. We've run down our stock of missiles, dangerously low. And Iran now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz where oil goes through to get to the world. So they're in a stronger strategic position now than before the war started. That was a decision this administration made. And that is the reason that the price of oil is up and the price of diesel is up and the price of just about everything is up. And by the way, it's not over. It's still going on. Meanwhile, you got the defense secretary who is like a laser focused on important matters like the jawline and testosterone levels of our troops and live streaming executions because that's how he thinks you cultivate that manly warrior spirit. How much time do you think this man is in front of the mirror every day? I mean, he just... These are not serious people for the price of their lack of seriousness. Well, prices aren't the only reason prices are going up, although they're the primary driver of it. There's also this whole tariff system, and this is especially important for Michigan. Our current president loves tariffs. Loves them. That's one economic policy. Tariffs. They're going to be great. The greatest tariffs ever. He was warned at the time. When you impose tariffs, it's not just the goods that are imported that we buy that are made in other countries. In a place like Michigan and the auto industry, you've got integrated systems between the United States and so each car requires a whole bunch of parts from a whole bunch of places. So he was warned, this will drive prices up, this does not lower prices. And by the way, that's exactly what happened. And the weirdest thing is, he's the toughest when it comes to tariffs and trade wars on that well-known evil empire, Canada. That historical adversary of ours, Canada. Canada, it's your neighbor. It's a few minutes' drive over the bridge. These are the people who gave us Martin Short and Maple Syrup. They are the nicest people. Like, they're so nice. We've gotten them so mad because they're just constantly being abused and talked about. They're talking about annexing their country. Making it the 51st State. So other than these tariffs bringing down the deficits like you said you would, they're driving up your prices. And now we are running a debt to the tune of $40 trillion. I want to, I can't resist pointing out, by the way, when I was president, we're in the middle of the worst financial crisis. Republicans are all deficits, deficits, debt, debt. You've got to do something about it. And now, $40 trillion. Crickets. Some of our deficits only matter when a Democratic president is in office. So, anyway, you would think that with all this going on, at least our current president would have passed some legislation to try to bring down prices. But no, the only bill they have passed of any significance What a trillion-dollar tax break that mostly benefits the richest Americans. Don't boo. Now, I have heard the argument, the president's done the things that folks want to do, like tightening up the border. Now, you know what? I believe we need to make sure our border is orderly and secure. I believe that we want folks to come. And in fact, when I was president, I got criticized by some Democratic allies for tightening up the border. I do not recall anybody campaigning on sending mass agents running through our streets. I don't recall anybody talking about law-abiding citizens being arrested and detained and shot and killed. We did not ask for that. That's not how you get our border under control. But let's be honest, and I'm not telling you something you don't know. Anybody really think this guy is spending all Anybody really think this guy is spending all that much time on these issues? I don't know if you've noticed, but he is very focused on home renovation. He should be on HGTV. guy is building a ballroom that is bigger than the White House, paved over the Rose Garden, paved it over, put a helicopter pad on the South Lawn, and then there is just gold everywhere. What's up with the gold? Man, he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. Gold everywhere. He is clearly not focused on lowering prices for you. People will come in to talk about the Iran war and talk about lowering prices. Uh-oh, it's okay. All right, all right, hold up. It's a little hot in here, and somebody fainted, so if we got an EMT, that's what happens. EMTs, we just give her a little space. Just give her a little space. They'll be fine. For those of you who have not yet fainted, bend your knees. That's what you do. You can't lock your knees. That's important. A little tip, stay hydrated, bend your knees. I have been in a lot of gyms. She'll be okay. So just give space, let the EMTs work. All right. I'm going to keep on going, though. Now, the one thing that the current president is focused on, other than home improvement, is enriching himself and his family with promise. Just look in the last couple of weeks. And I just want to be clear. This is all documented. You can just look it up. I'm not making it up. You would have thought I was making it up, but I'm not. We've got a U.S. ambassador shaking down a donor to pay off her credit card bill, $100,000. We learned a Venezuelan billionaire wanted a pardon, so he paid one of Trump's personal lawyers $50 million to be general counsel of a company nobody knows anything about. And lo and behold, the pardon falls out of the sky. This is a culture that's set at the top. We have never seen a president excel in straight-up grifting on your dime like this. Never seen a president so intent on selling favors like this. We have lost count. Vote. Because we have lost count. This group's a quick study. We have lost count of all the deals this family has done. You can't keep up with him. He's got green coins, taxpayer-funded contracts for his kids' company. As I've already mentioned, the guy's become billions of dollars wealthier in office. Nobody disputes this. Nobody denies it. It's just, how do you do that when you're supposed to be looking out for you? And the worst part about it is not a single Republican in Congress has done anything to stop it. Not any of the Republicans on the ballot here in Michigan have done anything to stop any of this nonsense. Most of them supported him every step of the way. You remember, roll back the tape, we're going to drain the swamp. The only thing they drained is the reflecting pool on the National Mall because some no-bid contract got it all messed up. And then they tried to blame him on this three-time Olympian. You remember that said he vandalized it and they had to drop the case because it was foolishness But and we could just go down the list Like it or not Remember don't don't move because I'm going to say this like it or not. We've got two more years of this administration. That's how our system of government works. Wait, wait, where we are we're stuck with that but you know what we're not stuck with We're not stuck with a spineless Congress and Republican governors who are enabling all this lawlessness and corruption and indifference to working people. We're not stuck with those who will enable policies that take more and more out of your paychecks and your health care and drive up inflation. We're not stuck with that. This election is our last, best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration. It is the circuit breaker in the system. We've got to flip that circuit breaker, bring some accountability to this government. We need to start showing the American people who are hungry for solutions what real leadership looks like, what concrete plans look like that actually lower costs and make health care more affordable and make housing more affordable and get utility bills under control. We just can't we can't just be against something. We got to be for something We got to start showing what a future on the other side of this Administration can look like and that starts with all of you. It starts with you electing Jocelyn Benson Governor it starts with you sending Abdul El-Saeed to the United States Senate I almost, and I emphasize almost feel bad for them, but almost, because then in the last couple years, anything he asked, they've now come to realize, well, folks are kind of upset with all these broken promises. So what are they doing? Number one, they're pretending they've never heard of the guy. Donald who? I don't know the guy. They avoid the subject. And what they're doing, which is far from the court, is running all kinds of scary ads. They think Democrats are radicals, or communists, jihadists, or the woke police that will come arrest you and force you to eat tofu instead of hamburgers. We are not going to fall for that okie-dokie. We are not going to be bamboozled like that. We're about the choice in this election. Abdul is fighting for change, real change. That will bring an end to this war. Change that will get money out of politics and put money in your pocket. Change that will finish the job we started with the Affordable Care Act and guarantee quality, affordable health care to every single American. He's taking on, he's taking on crony capitalism and corrupt politics that only benefits people with enough money and power to game a broken system in Washington at your expense. Say this is somehow radical. What is radical about that? Wanting everybody to have health care? How's that radical? Wanting everybody to have a place to live that they can afford? How is that radical? By the way, I want to talk about this. Some of these folks say, well, you know, I do like some things you did, but I'm not going to agree on every detail of every issue. So I don't agree with some of the things we want to do that our administration was doing when I was president. You know who else doesn't agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama. I'd say about five times a day, she says, you knucklehead. Why do you do that? You think I'm a big fat green on gold? When people who share your fundamental values are arguing for and so this way and Abdul shares my values of wanting everybody to get health care. He shares my values that if you work hard every day you should have a living wage and you should be able if you're a young person starting a family to be able to buy a house that you can afford and that you shouldn't have to pay six bucks every time you fill up a tank of gas to get to work. Share those values of making sure everybody gets not just one, but those at the top, those who can afford a lot. I can also tell you this from experience. They will use lies and they will use fear and they will use division and they may even use your name or your face somehow to get less and less trustworthy unless patriotic unless American. We have seen this movie before. I starred in it. I was, I'm, I'm, I'm the, I was, I was, I've got a long-form birth certificate to prove it. This stuff didn't work on me, not in Michigan. It's not going to work on Abdul. He was born here. He was raised here. Parents in the auto industry. Played football in Bloomfield Heights. Captain of his high school football and lacrosse and wrestling team. I mean, he's just a jack. You know, he like, you see those big guns? That's why he wears those t-shirts, you know. I never campaigned in a t-shirt. I ain't got those big guns. Michigan Wolverine, somebody who became a doctor to help people. In fairness, there is something that's different about Abdul. Unlike Mike Rogers, Abdul hasn't spent months cheerleading the Iran war. Even as folks right here in Michigan were facing the country's biggest fight to death, right? Unlike Mr. Rogers, not that Mr. Rogers, this is Trump. Abdul hasn't called, quote unquote, masterful. Even as they're killing manufacturing jobs right here in Michigan, unlike Abdul, we'll always stand up for Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence. He'll fight for you every day of the week. And by the way, imagine the, because you already got a pretty good senator right here. Imagine the power duo of Abdul and Alyssa. You've got a Muslim man, you've got a Jewish woman fighting for you in the United States Senate. That's something, Michigan, you can be proud of. Fight for you in Washington, just like Jocelyn will fight for you. So her Republican opponent, just like Mike Rogers, John James voted 50 times to support the Iran war, to keep tariffs on Canada, to raise the cost of health care not once or twice, but three times. Jocelyn Benson is running to lower costs, raise wages. She knows how hard it can be to make it all work when costs are so high. She's a working mom herself. She gets it. But she'll fight to make health care more affordable, more accessible, and include more rural communities. She'll make it easier to build homes faster and make housing more affordable. She'll take on utility companies and profit-driven rate hikes. Invest in clean energy so families can lower their bills. She'll make child care more affordable. Invest in public schools and educators so Michigan children get a world-class education. And Jocelyn will not back down. When armed protests showed up outside her home in 2020, demanded she overturn Michigan's fair and free election result, Jocelyn stood up for you and your rights. That's who she is. Someone who knows what's right. So when you cast your ballot for Abdul, and you cast your ballot for Jocelyn, I'd also urge you to vote yes on Prop 2 so we can curb pay to play politics. corporations with big government contracts from giving money to the politicians who greenlight those contracts. Now, you know, I know this is a good rally because I'm starting to heat up a little bit. That's a good feeling. I mean, that means we're warmed up. So let me just close by saying that we are going to need to revamp our education system for the new era that AI is ushering in. We are facing a really big housing shortage. We've got to build millions of homes, so generations are coming up to our homes just like their grandparents. We need to rein in the cost of child care so young families can afford it. We've got to make sure no one has to worry about high health care fees, partly because of gerrymandering, partly because of another way to try to buy and sell elections like never before, $300 million checks to try to influence our election. Partly because we've got a Republican Party, smaller government. We could have that argument, a little bit, shrink government a little bit. Now, parties seem to stand for inept government or no government. The system doesn't work, also because even while in government at times, we don't deliver it. They look around and we're still struggling. These are serious times. This is not the time for reality TV. This is not the time for Real Housewives, except on television, but not in our politics. And what's striking about this, who are more interested in what that all means, is when you find somebody like Abdul, when you find somebody like Jocelyn Benson, when you find people who genuinely care about, who have a strong track record, offering real solutions, people who are not precious, that is, we've got to deliver for them. We've got to make sure we elect them to the United States Senate and to the governor's mansion. Because Abdul and Jocelyn understand that this election is not about them. It's about us. It's about we. There's a latest thing we understand of the country all tilted so much just about the moral component. And we are not going to fix a system that's broken. We won't unrig our economy so long as we've got a culture where anything goes. The land thinks it's okay to lie and cheat and it doesn't matter what's what. Our money is the only measure of our worth. Every single day. Just like hands up, guys. Part of what's going on right now. We have lost touch. Helping our neighbors. Treating other people with respect. Back when I was president, and a whole bunch of plants had closed. No bailouts for the auto industry. We said, no, no, we're going to restructure. But we're going to make it work because we count on it. We're even making cars here in America. And so I came. I came to Detroit. I came to Detroit, and I visited Chrysler's Jefferson Northside. And some of y'all remember, recently won the lottery, bought the winning ticket by a proud UAW member who worked in the paint shop, and everybody assumed he was going to retire after they had the winning ticket. And everybody would have understood if he had said, all right, I'm going to kick it in the Bahamas. out what he did some of the winnings to buy the new american flags for his hotel and then he got right back to work he was on the assembly line because he knew he had a job well done through a sense and that something also got to find our north star if we don't return to some of those old-fashioned virtues of honesty and integrity and kindness and compassion values that can be found in every religion every tradition if we don't rediscover those values we will continue to fester in anger and division and i don't know about you but i am tired of anger and division i want really this is joy and and and everybody rolling up their sleeves in the common enterprise of rebuilding this country and then handing it off to our kids a little better than it is right now. That's what I want. That's what you want. We didn't get into this moment overnight. We're not going to get out of it overnight. But Michigan, I know this election can be a start. This election can be an inflection point. This election can be a course correction in America's long journey toward a more perfect union. Because if we're willing to turn out in big numbers here in Michigan and across the country, if we're willing to vote for change up and down the ballot. This election might not just mark the moment to move in a better direction. This will be the moment when we began leading our worst impulses. We started aligning our politics with our highest ideals. Michigan you and I have proved before it's hard to stop change when it's time has come. In ten days you have a chance to do it again. So I'm asking you right now are you fired up? Are you ready to go? Make Jocelyn Benson governor. Let's make Abdul El-Said senator. Let's get on to the path of making this country better. I love you, Detroit. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.