Barack Obama Makes the Case Against Trump

For most of the last two years, Barack Obama’s stance toward his successor has been elusive and allusive. Elusive because he has largely avoided the public eye; allusive because when he has spoken about current affairs, he has tended to avoid naming Donald Trump.

But the former president broke his silence Friday with a fierce rebuke of Trump and an exhortation to vote, delivered during a speech at the University of Illinois. In what’s expected to be the first appearance of many as Obama hits the campaign trail for Democratic candidates ahead of November’s midterms, he labeled Trump a demagogue and told the audience that this fall’s elections are the most important of their lifetime.

“This is not normal,” Obama said, reviving a common #resistance slogan of early 2017. “These are extraordinary times, and they are