COLUMBUS – Campaigning on behalf of Hillary Clinton in Ohio, President Barack Obama is refusing to give Republicans the benefit of the doubt and is trying to saddle GOP candidates across the country with the baggage of Donald Trump and his sexually aggressive comments about women.
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Speaking before the Ohio Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner at the Greater Columbus Convention Center last night, Obama says it was GOP complacency that allowed Trump to engage in what he called “hate-filled rhetoric.”
“The problem is that they’ve been riding this tiger for a long time.” He said. “They’ve been feeding their base all kinds of crazy for years, primarily for political expedience.”
Pitching Democratic former governor Ted Strickland’s challenge to Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Obama said Republicans who knew better, stood by and either said nothing or actually supported Trump can’t be rewarded for backing away from Trump now.
“You [Republicans] claim the mantle of the party of family values and this is the guy you nominate? And stand by and endorse and campaign with? Until finally at the 11th hour you withdraw your nomination? You don’t get credit for that,” Obama said.
Portman pulled his support from Trump last weekend, after a video surfaced in which the nominee made crude comments about groping and kissing women.
Obama said he’s more forgiving of the people who actually believe the rhetoric than those who knew better.
Obama is set for an appearance in Cleveland Friday as he campaigns in one of just a handful of toss-up states that could swing to either Clinton or Trump on Election Day.
Campaigning for his party’s nominee has become Obama’s central focus for the month of October. It constitutes his best chance to prevent his accomplishments of the last eight years from being reversed by a Republican successor.
As polls suggest Trump’s chances of winning the White House declining, Democrats have increasingly shifted focus to trying to win as many congressional seats as possible.