Obama urges Ohio voters to use midterms to impose ‘accountability’ on Trump administration

Former President Barack Obama urged voters in Ohio to use the midterm elections to impose what he called greater accountability on President Donald Trump’s administration, while attacking its trade, immigration and tax policies and campaigning for Democrats Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton.

Speaking at a rally in Cleveland on Saturday, Obama said the election offered “our best chance to put some checks on some of the craziness of this administration,” arguing that voters needed to “start creating some accountability” and show Americans “what real leadership looks like.”

Obama mocked Trump’s escalating trade dispute with Canada, describing it sarcastically as a confrontation with the “evil empire” that gave the United States maple syrup and actor Martin Short. The United States and Canada have been locked in a tariff dispute this year, with Washington imposing additional duties on a range of Canadian goods and Ottawa retaliating.

Turning to immigration enforcement, Obama said Americans had not asked for “masked agents” operating in their streets or for law-abiding citizens to be arrested, detained or shot. “That’s not what we need to do to control our borders,” he said.

He also attacked Trump’s 2025 tax law, calling it the administration’s only major legislative achievement and portraying it as a multitrillion-dollar tax break benefiting wealthy Americans. When the crowd booed, Obama responded with a familiar refrain: “Don’t boo — vote!”

Obama then targeted Republicans Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are running against Brown for the U.S. Senate and Acton for Ohio governor, respectively. He accused Republicans of distancing themselves from Trump as voters grew frustrated with unmet promises and joked that they were now acting as though they had never heard of him: “Donald who?”

He criticized Husted over his support for data-center development and attacked Ramaswamy over a controversial campaign advertisement targeting Acton, saying elected officials should be held to standards of decency. “Character matters,” Obama said.

Brown and Acton joined Obama on stage at the end of the Cleveland rally, one of several stops by the former president as Democrats intensify campaigning ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.