Obama skewers Trump while joining Biden on the campaign trail in Michigan
Former President Obama joined Joe Biden, his former vice president, on the campaign trail in Michigan on Saturday, calling this the "most important election of our lifetimes" and skewering President Trump. These were the first joint appearances by Mr. Obama and Biden during the 2020 election.
Mr. Obama called Biden his "brother," and said his former running mate "will be a great president."
"He made me a better president. He's got the character and the experience to make us a better country," Mr. Obama said.
Mr. Obama also slammed Mr. Trump for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, and mocked Mr. Trump for being preoccupied with crowd size at his campaign events.
"Does he have nothing better to worry about? Did no one come to his birthday party when he was a kid? What's with the crowd size?" Mr. Obama wondered.
At the event in Detroit, Mr. Obama's mic went out, requiring the audio system to be restarted. When he heard what happened, he joked "That's what we're going to do in three days! Restart the system!" Mr. Obama made small talk with the crowd while his mic was dead.
Biden's digital campaign director later tweeted a video of Mr. Obama at a gym sinking a three-point shot. "That's what I do!" he shouted.
so this was absolutely insane pic.twitter.com/W4JL6LQZxq
— Olivia Raisner (@OliviaRaisner) October 31, 2020
At both events, Biden also urged people to vote, saying "we got a little complacent in the last election." Mr. Obama talked about the importance of down ballot races, from congressional races to local district attorney races.
"That's what voting's about. Not making things perfect, but making things better," Mr. Obama said.
After Biden took the stage, he praised Mr. Obama and also urged Michiganders to vote.
"There's nothing that he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting in overwhelming numbers and taking back our democracy," Biden said, referring to efforts by Mr. Trump to cast doubts about the outcome of the election.
Biden will need to perform well in these predominantly Black areas if he is to win Michigan, four years after Mr. Trump narrowly carried the state.
In 2016, the counties that include Flint and Detroit saw a significant drop in turnout, MI Live reported. The overall Black voter turnout that year decreased for the first time in 20 years, according to the Pew Research Center.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released this week showed Biden up eight percentage points in Michigan.