Former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump held dueling rallies Wednesday, trading barbs on morality and decorum as the midterm election enters its final stretch.
On Wednesday, October 28, Obama and Trump held simultaneous primetime rallies in Georgia and Ohio. The events came days before voters head to the polls for the midterm election.
There is a moral component to the choices we face right now.
The University of Florida's Election Lab reports that 40 million ballots have been cast early. At the last midterm elections in 2022, 45.9 million Americans voted early.
With the midterms approaching, Trump offered $1 million for tips leading to a vote fraud conviction. He urged Democrat Mary Peltola to withdraw from the Alaska Senate race and said she should face criminal charges.
Mary Peltola should resign from the race. I think she should be criminally prosecuted for what she did.
The New York Times reported that aides to Mary Peltola worked with lawyers and staff at the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm to recruit two candidates who could siphon votes from incumbent Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan. Peltola’s campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee denied involvement in the alleged plan.
Senator Dan Sullivan told Fox News that Peltola has tried to trick Alaskans. He said he will stay focused on campaigning and emphasizing his record.
Nonpartisan analysts generally see Democrats as favoured to win a House majority, while the Senate race appears very close. To overturn the Senate's current 53-47 Republican majority, Democrats must gain seats in states that usually lean Republican, including Ohio, Iowa or Alaska.
Americans have grown more concerned about the cost of living and the Iran war, while Trump's public approval rating is close to a record low. Obama criticised Trump's tariffs and decision to go to war in Iran, saying America's values were on the ballot.
We are not going to fix the system that's broken, we're not going to unrig our economy, so long as we've got a culture where anything goes, where people in the highest offices of the land think it's OK to lie and cheat and bully, if we continue to have a culture where money is deemed the only measure of our worth.
Trump criticized Sherrod Brown over immigration policies that the president said had overwhelmed Springfield, Ohio, with Haitian migrants. Trump also made false claims in the 2024 presidential campaign that Haitian immigrants in Springfield ate cats and dogs, claims local officials repeatedly called untrue.
Hundreds of protesters gathered along Trump's motorcade path in rural Chillicothe, displaying banners that read "Republican against Trump", "Grab them by the ballot" and "GOP: Guardians of pedophiles". During the rally, protesters disrupted Trump several times. One person shouted about deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump said he expelled Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after the two socialised during the 1990s and early 2000s, before falling out. Trump later barred Epstein from the club.
I threw Jeffrey Epstein the hell out of Mar-a-Lago.
The Justice Department warned that some materials in its Epstein files releases include unverified or uncorroborated allegations. The releases mention Trump, along with many other prominent figures.
At an event in Cleveland on Saturday, Obama joked about Trump's interior decorating taste, saying the White House looked like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.
He's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory
Trump defended the White House decor, saying Obama left the property in disrepair. He cited broken windows and broken stone that hasn't been painted in 30 years.
The White House, I think, is the number one symbol of our country, and we can't have a White House with broken windows, with broken stone that hasn't been painted in 30 years.
In Potter County, Texas, the Republican party and its leader Daniel Roger filed a lawsuit Tuesday, asking a federal judge to order the state to count every ballot by hand before final certification. They argued the step is needed to guard against possible tabulation errors caused by foreign hackers or artificial intelligence.
I trust people. I don't trust electronics.
Trump appointee US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is handling the Potter County case. Texas' rules for assigning federal cases let conservatives strategically bring cases there, making it highly likely their complaints will go before sympathetic judges.
In Alaska, Judge Sharon Gleason ruled Wednesday that Democrats and non-partisan voter advocacy groups may take part in court proceedings opposing a Justice Department suit that could prevent certification of the state's Senate election. She kept a briefing schedule that could let her decide as early as this weekend whether to dismiss the case, as the outside groups requested.
The Senate contest to replace Democratic Senator Gary Peters is close. Republican Mike Rogers is facing Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. Rogers and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas travelled by bus on a tour with four stops, ending in Imlay City, northeast of Detroit.
In Downriver, southwest of Detroit, El-Sayed was due to attend an evening canvassing rally with Peters and Senator Elissa Slotkin. Trump has repeatedly criticised Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed because of his Muslim faith.
Early in-person voting in Georgia ends less than a week before Election Day.
- October 30Georgia voting deadline
Early in-person voting in Georgia ends.
- Thursday eveningAlaska response due
The Trump administration must respond to the intervention request.
- This weekendAlaska ruling
Judge Gleason is scheduled to rule on the request to dismiss the case.
- November 3Election Day
Thirty-five Senate seats and all 435 House seats are contested.
Policy Attacks
Barack Obama
Former US President
- Criticized tariffs
- Criticized war in Iran
- Focused on moral choice
Donald Trump
US President
- Attacked immigration policies
- Focused on local crime
- Offered fraud bounty
What we know
- Trump offered $1 million for vote fraud tips.
- 40 million ballots have been cast.
- Obama and Trump held rallies on October 28.
Still unclear
- Whether the Justice Department lawsuit seeking to potentially block certification of Alaska's Senate election will succeed.
- Whether the Potter County Republican Party's lawsuit for a full hand count of Texas ballots will be granted.
- Whether the alleged plan by Democratic operatives to recruit a spoiler candidate in Alaska will lead to any criminal charges against Mary Peltola.
Judge Gleason could rule as early as this weekend on the request to dismiss the Alaska certification case. Responses from the Trump administration are due by Thursday evening.
