CLEVELAND (CN) — Recalling his own achievements for at least 1,000 Ohio voters, President Barack Obama said Hillary Clinton is the only candidate worthy of their support on Election Day.
Addressing an adoring crowd on the tarmac at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport, the president warned that all the progress made over the last eight years could be lost if Americans make the wrong choice on Nov. 8.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is quick to describe Obama's presidency as a "disaster" on the campaign trail, but Obama gamely refreshed the crowd's memory Friday about bringing the country's economy back from the brink of a second Great Depression, slashing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, bringing Osama Bin Laden to justice, reviving the U.S. auto economy and delivering marriage equality in all 50 states.
Obama recalled the Democratic nominee's experience as a first lady, a senator and a secretary of state, and assured those in attendance that she understands the gravity of managing a global catastrophe or sending a young person to war.
"Even in the middle of crisis, she keeps her cool and pays everybody the proper respect," Obama said. "And most importantly, 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 is 'rigged.' She just works harder and gets the job done and never, ever quits. And by the way, isn't that what you want from a president?"
Obama then turned his attention to Trump, who himself had praised Clinton's determination when asked to name something positive about his political adversary at the end of the second presidential debate.
"I notice her opponent," Obama continued. "He seems to be, in the middle of the game, making excuses all the time for why he might be losing. It's always interesting for me to see folks who talk tough, but then they don't act tough. If you're tough, you don't make excuses. You don't start complaining about the refs before the game's even done. You just play the game, right? That's what Hillary Clinton is doing. She's out there playing the game. She's just in the arena for you, fighting every single day to make sure that everybody gets a fair shake."
Obama then attacked Trump's deal-making prowess and the massive loss he declared in 1995 — a figure first reported by the New York Times after Trump's stonewalling made him the first major-party presidential candidate since the early 1970s to not release his income-tax returns.
"He says he great at making deals," Obama reminded the crowd. "I don't know a lot of people who operate a casino and manage to lose almost a billion dollars in one year. Usually the house wins. You know that saying, 'the house always wins?' Unless he owns the house. Then it loses a billion dollars."
Obama also mocked Trump's stance as a champion of the working class.
The rise of the far-right movement that Trump has championed with such unexpected success is something for which the entire Republican Party must answer, Obama said.
