The former president had plenty to say about his successor’s White House renovations—and the “not serious” people running the country.
Barack Obama unleashed a blistering attack on President Donald Trump and the “not serious” people running the country, mocking the president’s White House renovations and accusing him of using the Oval Office to enrich himself and his family.
Speaking at his first midterm campaign rally Saturday, the former president joked that Trump had made the White House look “like Saddam Hussein opened up a Cheesecake Factory.”
Barack Obama spent his weekend criticizing the “unserious” people running the country right now.
Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
Portraying Trump as an agent of “chaos and cruelty” and a man of broken promises, Obama told the crowd: “You remember that old thing about ‘drain the swamp’?”
“The only thing that got drained was the Reflecting Pool in the National Mall after some no-bid contract got it all messed up,” he said as the crowd erupted in laughter.
Donald Trump shares details of his controversial White House ballroom project.
Obama delivered the remarks Saturday at a rally in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, a former top health director who was the target of a vicious MAGA attack ad, and former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is trying to unseat GOP incumbent, former college football player, and object of Trump’s affection Jon Husted.
Crowds lined up for hours, with lines stretching around several downtown blocks, to get into Public Auditorium, which can accommodate up to 10,000 people.
Barack Obama joins hands with former Sen. Sherrod Brown and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton after a rally ahead of the midterm elections in Cleveland.
Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
The former president also took aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s fixation on masculinity, mocking his emphasis on jawlines and testosterone levels and his desire to livestream executions.
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“How much time does the defense secretary spend looking at himself in the mirror?” Obama asked, mocking Hegseth’s carefully styled hair.
“These are not serious people!”
“How much time does the defense secretary spend looking at himself in the mirror?” Obama asked, mocking Hegseth’s carefully styled hair.
Eric Lee/REUTERS/Eric Lee
Pointing to Trump’s broken promises on foreign wars and grocery prices, Obama asked: “Does anybody really think this guy in the White House right now is spending all that time thinking about these issues?
“I mean, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations,” he added. “He should be on HGTV.”
The remarks amounted to a withering critique of an administration Obama portrayed as more interested in macho posturing, vanity projects, and self-promotion than the business of governing.
Obama speaks during a rally before the midterm elections in Cleveland on Oct. 24, 2026.
Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
But Obama also struck a more serious note, questioning what happened to decency in politics and arguing that the country cannot solve its problems without first repairing its moral compass.
With just days left in the campaign, Obama and Trump fanned out across battleground states Saturday, deploying their star power as the race for control of Congress entered its final stretch.
After Ohio, Obama headed to Detroit to support Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Muslim doctor whose positions on Israel have alienated some Jewish voters and who has also struggled to win support among Black voters in Michigan.
Trump, meanwhile, was rallying Republicans in Georgia, where the party is fighting to hold a Senate seat and win the governor’s mansion.
Obama’s appearance came days after Acton was targeted this week in a vile attack ad from her MAGA opponent in the governor’s race, Vivek Ramaswamy.
“You probably heard by now, as a young child, my brother and I experienced a lot of child abuse and neglect,” Acton told the crowd.
“We moved countless times as kids, and even wound up living in a tent in the middle of winter. And now my opponent has chosen to intentionally exploit my childhood to save his struggling campaign, but it’s not going to work.”
Amy Acton arrives for a rally ahead of the midterm elections in Cleveland, Ohio.
Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
As the crowds started building before Obama’s speech, one attendee, Patricia Kellner, sported a white coat and a “Doctors for Dr Amy Acton” t-shirt as she held up a sign that said, “Fighting for Ohio.”
“I hope she wins,” she told the Daily Beast, “but you never know with all their dirty tricks.”
Ohio resident Patricia Kellner attended the rally sporting a white coat and a “Doctors for Dr Amy Acton” t-shirt.
The ad featured Acton’s estranged mother calling her a liar. What it failed to explain was that the two have not spoken in decades after Acton’s mother sided with her stepfather, who had raped Acton as a child.
Trump backed the ad, which ignited a nationwide firestorm, with numerous Republicans urging Ramaswamy to take it down.
“We’re seeing independents break strongly for the Democrats,” one furious GOP strategist in Ohio told the Daily Beast. “I’m looking at early turnout results, and they’re up everywhere in the state.”
Obama tore into Ramaswamy over the ad, accusing him of having no line he wouldn’t cross for the spotlight.
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has fiercely defended the vicious attack ad he released targeting Acton, a victim of child sexual abuse.
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
The MAGA candidate, however, spent Friday doubling down on the ad, claiming it had nothing to do with the sexual abuse his opponent suffered as a child.
“Our ad was about a consistent track record of Amy Acton telling lies, including during this campaign, and I do think that there has been very little to no coverage of the lies she has told about me, about my family, about my mother, and an ad they put up falsely calling me a murderer of a man’s wife.”
On Saturday, however, his campaign released a shorter version of the ad, removing a reference that challenged Acton’s account of growing up homeless and living in a tent.
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