By Raul Castillo
Aug 21, 2024, 7:24 PM EDT
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addressed attacks he received Tuesday from former President Barack Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, targeting Republicans who asked him not to make personal criticisms of his rivals.
“Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night? He was attacking your president. And so was Michelle,” Trump told supporters at a rally in North Carolina, his first outdoor rally since the attack in Pennsylvania.
“You know, they always say, ‘Sir, please stick to politics, don’t get personal,’” Trump continued, as reported by The Hill. “And yet these people get personal all night long. Do I have to stick to politics anymore?”
“Sir, you should stick to politics. You will win at the border. You will win with inflation. You will win with the great military that you built,” Trump said, mockingly imitating those who suggest he stop the personal attacks and focus on politics.
Two weeks ago, his former adviser Kellyanne Conway asked him to avoid personal insults and focus on politics in his campaign rhetoric. The request has been echoed by less radical Republicans.
“The winning formula for President Trump is very clear,” Conway told Fox Business last week. “It’s less name-calling, more insight and that contrast of policies.”
On Tuesday, during the Democratic National Convention, Barack and Michelle Obama harshly criticized Trump.
In his speech, the former Democratic president referred to Trump as a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped complaining about his problems since he came down the golden escalator nine years ago.”
“There’s been a steady stream of complaints and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala. There’s the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes,” Obama added, making a gesture with his hands that implied he was mocking Trump’s manhood.
The former first lady, for her part, criticized the “limited and narrow” vision of the world that she attributed to the former president and said that she felt threatened by the presence of an African-American family in the White House.
He also said that Trump was “once again” resorting to the same “ugly, misogynistic and racist lies” that marked his political career.
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