Archive for the ‘Obama’ Category

Obama says he voted by mail: ‘It’s not as tough as a lot of folks think’ | TheHill – The Hill

Former President Obama on Thursday shared in a video posted on Twitter that he had voted by mail.

In the video, Obama explains the process of voting by mail, saying: "Ive been voting by mail for years. And youll see its not as tough as a lot of folks think.

When it came time to fill out the form, he says, Generally, I dont share my ballot. In this case, though, I think you all know Im voting for Joe BidenJoe BidenMore than 300 military family members endorse Biden Five takeaways from the final Trump-Biden debate Biden: 'I would transition from the oil industry' MORE and Kamala HarrisKamala HarrisThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump, Biden face off for last time on the debate stage Obama says he voted by mail: 'It's not as tough as a lot of folks think' Clean energy opportunities in a time of crisis MORE.

I just voted by mail for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. If you're planning on doing the same, follow all the instructions carefully, and drop it in the mail or at a ballot drop box right away. Here, Ill show you: pic.twitter.com/S4gg0B5RXN

You may find that some of these local races, you dont know what they mean. You dont know who might be the most qualified, he continued. A lot of times what you can do is find some news source or information source that you trust, or theres an organization in your community that reflects your views or cares about your issues. A lot of times theyll give you a voter guide and they can tell you, Here are the various candidates and what they stand for, so youre informed when youre actually filling out the rest of your ballot.

"Even a former president of the United States sometimes finds this really handy," he added.

Last week, Obama filmed 18 separate, state-specific videos on how to vote in 2020, saying in his first instructional, So much is at stake in this election, from getting the pandemic under control to building a fairer economy to taking on climate change to protecting our health care. You can change our direction on every issue. Thats the power of your vote.

Mail-in ballots have been repeatedly attacked by President TrumpDonald John TrumpMore than 300 military family members endorse Biden Five takeaways from the final Trump-Biden debate Biden: 'I would transition from the oil industry' MORE, who has claimed that the practice would lead to widespread fraud.

FBI Director Christopher Wray haspushed back on the notion, saying last month,"We have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election whether its by mail or otherwise."

On Thursday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro(D) accused Trump of "trying to create chaos" with his repeated criticisms of mail-in voting.

A recordnumberof voters have alreadycast their ballotsthis year, and many more are expected to vote by mail due to concerns around the coronavirus pandemic.

Obama made his first in-person appearance on the campaign trail on Wednesday, appearing in Pennsylvania a day after Trump held a rally in Erie. Pa.

"The president spent some time in Erie last night and apparently he complained about having to travel here. Then he cut the event short. Poor guy. I don't feel that way. I love coming to Pennsylvania, Obama said at the event.

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Obama says he voted by mail: 'It's not as tough as a lot of folks think' | TheHill - The Hill

Trump says he doesn’t actually want Whitmer, Biden and Obama to be locked up despite chants | TheHill – The Hill

President TrumpDonald John TrumpMore than 300 military family members endorse Biden Five takeaways from the final Trump-Biden debate Biden: 'I would transition from the oil industry' MORE in an interview with "60 Minutes" clarified that he does not actually want to lock up former President Obama, Democratic presidential nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenMore than 300 military family members endorse Biden Five takeaways from the final Trump-Biden debate Biden: 'I would transition from the oil industry' MORE or Michigan Gov. Gretchen WhitmerGretchen WhitmerTrump says he doesn't actually want Whitmer, Biden and Obama to be locked up despite chants The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Goldman Sachs - Tipping point week for Trump, Biden, Congress, voters Rally crowd chants 'lock him up' as Trump calls Biden family 'a criminal enterprise' MORE (D) despite chants from his supporters to do just that.

The president on Thursday posted raw footage of his interview with veteran journalist Lesley Stahl in which he grows increasingly agitated by her questions before abruptly ending thesit-down.

In one exchange, Stahl presses Trump on the "lock her up" chants directed at Whitmer and others that are a feature of his campaign rallies.

"You encourage it," Stahlsaidof the chants, referencing how they were at first directed at 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonFive takeaways from the final Trump-Biden debate Trump, Biden tangle over Wall Street ties, fundraising The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump, Biden face off for last time on the debate stage MORE.

"I dont encourage it. If I mention her name about something, they go crazy," Trump said.

The president typically stands by while his crowds call for his opponents to be jailed, but in recent days he has signaled clearer support.

He told supporters in Florida last week that he agreed "100 percent" with a "lock her up" chant about Clinton, he told campaign staff Biden "should be in jail" and the president added "lock 'em all up" last weekend when the crowd directed the refrain at Whitmer, the target of an allegedkidnappingplot.

"You dont want to lock up Gov. Whitmer?" Stahlasked.

"When did I say lock her up? ... When did I say lock up the governor?" Trumpresponded. "I didnt say lock up the governor. Why would I lock her up?"

"Of course I dont want to lock her up. Why would I lock her up?" he added shortly after calling her restrictions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus "disgraceful."

After Trump spent portions of the interview complaining that journalists are not being tough enough on Biden over unprovencorruption allegations involving his son Hunter Biden, Stahlaskedif Trump wants to "lock up the Bidens."

"No, I dont want to lock them up, but they certainly should be looked at," Trumpsaid.

Asked about locking up Obama, whom Trump has baselessly accused of treason, the president said, "I dont want to lock him up, but he spied on my campaign. Obama andBiden spied on my campaign."

"Thats never been verified," Stahl interjected.

"Its been totally verified," Trump responded.

Democrats, critics and outside experts have frequently raised concerns about Trump's rhetoric toward his opponents. Whitmer's office and Rep. Ilhan OmarIlhan OmarTrump says he doesn't actually want Whitmer, Biden and Obama to be locked up despite chants Hillicon Valley: Threatening emails raise election concerns | Quibi folds after raising nearly B | Trump signs law making it a crime to hack voting systems Ocasio-Cortez draws hundreds of thousands of viewers on Twitch livestream MORE (D-Minn.) have said they receive an increase in threats whenever Trump targets them at his rallies.

The president has made little effort to discourage his supporters from calling for his political supporters to be jailed, though, and Trump himself added fuel this week when he urgedAttorney General William BarrBill BarrSeattle, Portland, NYC sue Trump administration over threat to pull federal money Trump says he doesn't actually want Whitmer, Biden and Obama to be locked up despite chants Trump and advisers considering firing FBI director after election: WaPo MORE to launch an investigation into Hunter Biden just two weeks before Election Day.

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Trump says he doesn't actually want Whitmer, Biden and Obama to be locked up despite chants | TheHill - The Hill

Obama retweets Chicago doctor who shared pictures of his 102-year-old great aunt voting early – Chicago Sun-Times

When Northwestern Medicine physician Dr. Quentin Youmans sent a tweet Wednesday morning encouraging people to go out and vote, he had no idea how many people might see it.

It showed his great aunt Ora Smith exiting a car with a ballot in hand and a mask on her lap, moments before casting her vote in Hampton, South Carolina.

At 102 years old, my great aunt, born the year of our last great #pandemic, made her way to the ballot box to cast her #vote. If she can do it, you can too! Youmans tweet said.

In a matter of hours, the tweet garnered over 10,000 retweets and over 67,000 likes and grabbed the attention of former President Barack Obama.

102 never looked better! Grateful for all the folks like your aunt who continue to show up and vote in this important election, Obama said in his retweet.

Youmans said he was shocked when celebrities started retweeting and overwhelmed by the support. His Apple Watch has been pinging him with new notifications every two minutes, he said.

I was just so surprised, and I really couldnt believe President Obama not only retweeted but gave a comment encouraging others to vote, Youmans said. Obama is an idol for me. His leadership style of grace and humility is what I try to emulate in my own life as a physician.

Smith was just excited to be going out to vote.

She had her mask on her lap and found it to be very important to be careful this year with the pandemic, Youmans said. But she also knows how important it is to vote and have our voices heard in the democratic process.

Youmans said Smith believes every election is important in its own way.

He said people from across the country have been sharing pictures of elderly loved ones casting early ballots. Its been a bit inspiring for him.

As a physician working at Northwestern, one of the things weve seen is how COVID has affected us all, Youmans said. Still, it shows how important it is to move forward with our democratic process as long as we take steps to feel safe.

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Obama retweets Chicago doctor who shared pictures of his 102-year-old great aunt voting early - Chicago Sun-Times

He hasnt shown any interest in doing the work Obama denounces Trump on campaign trail – 8News

PHILADELPHIA (NEXSTAR/AP) Former President Barack Obama blasted President Donald Trumps handling of the coronavirus pandemic, his response to racial unrest and his fundamental unfitness for the job in his first in-person campaign pitch Wednesday for Joe Biden, his former vice president.

With less than two weeks until Election Day, Obama delivered a sweeping condemnation of Trump while urging voters not to sit out the Nov. 3 election. He cast Trump as uninterested in leading America through the unprecedented challenges the country is facing.

He hasnt shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends, Obama said at a drive-in rally of about 300 cars. This is not a reality show. This is reality, and the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously.

Obama took specific aim at reporting Tuesday that President Trump has kept a secret Chinese bank account, saying Fox News would have labeled him Beijing Barry if he had been caught doing the same thing.

Obamas visit to Philadelphia underscores the significance of Pennsylvania, the swing state that Biden himself has visited the most this campaign season. Trump has prioritized the state as well, and his aides acknowledge that his path to victory would narrow considerably without the states 20 electoral votes. The president on Wednesday was in Erie, one of a handful of Pennsylvania counties that Obama won twice before it flipped to Trump.

Specifically targeting voters who might be disillusioned, Obama offered a defense of the nations decency and personal validation that Biden and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, can live up to it.

America is a good and decent place, but weve just seen so much nonsense and noise that sometimes its hard to remember, he said. Im asking you to remember what this country can be. Im asking you to believe in Joes ability and Kamalas ability to lead this country out of these dark times and help us build it back better.

During his speech and at an earlier roundtable with Black men, Biden talked up the Democrats plans to confront the coronavirus while dealing with the countrys social and economic tensions, including disparities deeply rooted in racism.

I am so confident in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris surrounding themselves with people who are serious, who know what theyre doing, who are representative of all people not just some people and us being able to then dig ourselves out of this hole, Obama said.

Four years ago, Obama delivered Hillary Clintons closing argument in Philadelphia at a rally for thousands the night before Election Day on Independence Mall. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic upending campaigning, far fewer voters saw the former president in person. But he used the spotlight he had to remind voters of 2016, when Trump upset Clinton narrowly in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to forge an Electoral College majority despite losing the popular vote nationally.

We cant be complacent, Obama warned. I dont care about the polls. There were a whole bunch of polls last time. Didnt work out because a whole bunch of folks stayed at home and got lazy and complacent. Not this time. Not this election.

The roundtable was a personalized version of the same message, with the nations first Black president urging Black men especially not to give into apathy. The host city, Philadelphia, is among the Democratic bastions in key battleground states where Black turnout four years ago fell off from Obamas 2012 reelection in large enough numbers to tip the election in Trumps favor.

Obama, 59, said he understood young voters skepticism and disinterest, recalling his own attitude decades ago. Ill confess, when I was 20 years old, I wasnt all that woke, he said at the roundtable, adding that young Black men are not involved because theyre young and theyre distracted.

But he said not voting gives away power.

The answer for young people when I talk to them is not that voting makes everything perfect, Obama said. Its that it makes things better because politicians respond to and reflect the citizens who cast votes.

One of the biggest tricks thats perpetrated on the American people is this idea that the government is separate from you, Obama said. The governments us. Of, by and for the people. It wasnt always for all of us, but the way its designed, it works based on whos at the table.

Despite the smaller scale, Democrats say that as one of the men who knows Biden best, both as his former partner in the White House and personally, Obama remains one of the partys greatest assets in the final stretch of the campaign.

Obama has already been helpful to the Biden campaign, adapting to the shift to virtual events by focusing much of his work on getting younger Americans to vote. Hes appeared on Twitch, the video game streaming platform, pushed a voter registration message on Snapchat and recorded a video for the Shade Room, a Black-owned Instagram page and media company with 21 million followers.

Obama has appeared on two podcasts run by some of his former aides and has lent his name to texts and emails encouraging supporters to register to vote and donate money to the campaign. Obama has also been a big money draw for the campaign he appeared at two virtual fundraisers with Harris this month and a handful prior to that. A grassroots virtual fundraiser Obama headlined with Biden in June brought in $7.6 million.

Obama has also been active for down-ballot Democrats, raising money for House Democrats and appearing in ads for some of the partys top candidates, like Sara Gideon, running for the Senate in Maine, and for vulnerable incumbents, like Michigan Sen. Gary Peters. And he filmed a series of digital videos for the Democratic National Committee emphasizing the need for voters to make plans for casting their ballot.

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He hasnt shown any interest in doing the work Obama denounces Trump on campaign trail - 8News

He hasnt shown any interest in doing the work: Obama denounces Trump on campaign trail – WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland

PHILADELPHIA (NEXSTAR/AP) Former President Barack Obama blasted President Donald Trumps handling of the coronavirus pandemic, his response to racial unrest and his fundamental unfitness for the job in his first in-person campaign pitch Wednesday for Joe Biden, his former vice president.

With less than two weeks until Election Day, Obama delivered a sweeping condemnation of Trump while urging voters not to sit out the Nov. 3 election. He cast Trump as uninterested in leading America through the unprecedented challenges the country is facing.

He hasnt shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends, Obama said at a drive-in rally of about 300 cars. This is not a reality show. This is reality, and the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously.

Obama took specific aim at reporting Tuesday that President Trump has kept a secret Chinese bank account, saying Fox News would have labeled him Beijing Barry if he had been caught doing the same thing.

Obamas visit to Philadelphia underscores the significance of Pennsylvania, the swing state that Biden himself has visited the most this campaign season. Trump has prioritized the state as well, and his aides acknowledge that his path to victory would narrow considerably without the states 20 electoral votes. The president on Wednesday was in Erie, one of a handful of Pennsylvania counties that Obama won twice before it flipped to Trump.

Specifically targeting voters who might be disillusioned, Obama offered a defense of the nations decency and personal validation that Biden and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, can live up to it.

America is a good and decent place, but weve just seen so much nonsense and noise that sometimes its hard to remember, he said. Im asking you to remember what this country can be. Im asking you to believe in Joes ability and Kamalas ability to lead this country out of these dark times and help us build it back better.

During his speech and at an earlier roundtable with Black men, Biden talked up the Democrats plans to confront the coronavirus while dealing with the countrys social and economic tensions, including disparities deeply rooted in racism.

I am so confident in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris surrounding themselves with people who are serious, who know what theyre doing, who are representative of all people not just some people and us being able to then dig ourselves out of this hole, Obama said.

Four years ago, Obama delivered Hillary Clintons closing argument in Philadelphia at a rally for thousands the night before Election Day on Independence Mall. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic upending campaigning, far fewer voters saw the former president in person. But he used the spotlight he had to remind voters of 2016, when Trump upset Clinton narrowly in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to forge an Electoral College majority despite losing the popular vote nationally.

We cant be complacent, Obama warned. I dont care about the polls. There were a whole bunch of polls last time. Didnt work out because a whole bunch of folks stayed at home and got lazy and complacent. Not this time. Not this election.

The roundtable was a personalized version of the same message, with the nations first Black president urging Black men especially not to give into apathy. The host city, Philadelphia, is among the Democratic bastions in key battleground states where Black turnout four years ago fell off from Obamas 2012 reelection in large enough numbers to tip the election in Trumps favor.

Obama, 59, said he understood young voters skepticism and disinterest, recalling his own attitude decades ago. Ill confess, when I was 20 years old, I wasnt all that woke, he said at the roundtable, adding that young Black men are not involved because theyre young and theyre distracted.

But he said not voting gives away power.

The answer for young people when I talk to them is not that voting makes everything perfect, Obama said. Its that it makes things better because politicians respond to and reflect the citizens who cast votes.

One of the biggest tricks thats perpetrated on the American people is this idea that the government is separate from you, Obama said. The governments us. Of, by and for the people. It wasnt always for all of us, but the way its designed, it works based on whos at the table.

Despite the smaller scale, Democrats say that as one of the men who knows Biden best, both as his former partner in the White House and personally, Obama remains one of the partys greatest assets in the final stretch of the campaign.

Obama has already been helpful to the Biden campaign, adapting to the shift to virtual events by focusing much of his work on getting younger Americans to vote. Hes appeared on Twitch, the video game streaming platform, pushed a voter registration message on Snapchat and recorded a video for the Shade Room, a Black-owned Instagram page and media company with 21 million followers.

Obama has appeared on two podcasts run by some of his former aides and has lent his name to texts and emails encouraging supporters to register to vote and donate money to the campaign. Obama has also been a big money draw for the campaign he appeared at two virtual fundraisers with Harris this month and a handful prior to that. A grassroots virtual fundraiser Obama headlined with Biden in June brought in $7.6 million.

Obama has also been active for down-ballot Democrats, raising money for House Democrats and appearing in ads for some of the partys top candidates, like Sara Gideon, running for the Senate in Maine, and for vulnerable incumbents, like Michigan Sen. Gary Peters. And he filmed a series of digital videos for the Democratic National Committee emphasizing the need for voters to make plans for casting their ballot.

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He hasnt shown any interest in doing the work: Obama denounces Trump on campaign trail - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland