In a pitch to convert working Americans who currently support Donald Trump, President Barack Obama claimed Friday that the GOP nominee's history shows he's unlikely to implement policies that help the lower and middle classes.
"Look, if a guy's spent 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people — there's no record that he's supported minimum wage, or supported collective bargaining or invested in poor communities — and then suddenly he's going to be the champion of working people? Come on. Come on, man!" Obama said during a Hillary Clinton event in Cleveland.
On Thursday, Trump lashed out at media organizations, claiming they were part of a global conspiracy to undermine his campaign. Obama, however, used that defiant Trump speech as another opportunity to attack the Republican nominee's intentions for American workers.
"Apparently in a speech yesterday he started talking about 'global elites' — that there was a conspiracy of global elites. This is a guy who spent all his time hanging around trying to convince everybody he was a global elite, talking about how great his buildings are, and how luxurious, and how rich he is, and flying around everywhere," Obama said. "All he had time for was celebrities, and now suddenly he's acting like he's a populist out there — 'Man, I'm going to fight for working people' — come on, man!"
Bradd Jaffy tweet: Obama weighs in on Trump's "conspiracy" speech — "COME ON, MAN!"
"You want to know what somebody's going to do, look what they've been doing their whole lives," the president added.
Obama's critique of Trump came after his effusive praise for Clinton, whom he depicted as a lifelong fighter for working Americans.
"No matter how tough the odds, no matter how much people try to knock her down, she doesn't point fingers or whine, she doesn't talk about how everything's rigged. She just works harder and gets the job done and never ever quits," Obama said.