The following are excerpts from President Obama’s October 24, 2026, speech in Cleveland, where he supported Amy Acton for Ohio Governor and Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate.
Top quotes:
Trump “seems very into home renovations. He should be on HGTV. What’s up with the gold? He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
“So you remember that whole thing about drain the swamp? The only thing that got drained was the reflecting pool on the National Mall after some no-bid contract messed it up, and then they tried to blame a three-time Olympian and say he vandalized it.”
“Meanwhile, you’ve got the defense secretary who’s squarely focused on important matters like jawlines and testosterone levels, and troops live-streaming executions. You know he’s working his hair because that’s how warriors look.”
“We all know that guy (Vivek Ramaswamy) who’s just thirsty, wants attention no matter what, and, in recent days, we’ve seen there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to get in the limelight.”
After two years of chaos, and cruelty, and corruption, and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in modern times, you get a chance to say, “Enough’s enough. We are voting for change right here in Ohio.”
Two years ago, a lot of people weren’t crazy about the guy’s character, but they were frustrated by post-COVID inflation. They saw prices go up, and they heard him make a bunch of promises to bring costs under control. And those weren’t the only promises he made. He also promised he’d impose tariffs that would bring down the deficit.
He promised he’d stop getting us involved in unnecessary wars. He promised he’d pass a beautiful healthcare bill, the most beautiful bill that would make everyone’s lives better. I think we should examine how did these promises work out?
In this case, this administration’s actions directly caused rising costs. The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions. Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for, and nobody voted for. Now, this is something I know a little about.
Our allies and our bases have been attacked. Americans have been killed. Hundreds of Americans have been wounded. We have run down our stock of missiles. And Iran now has veto power over the Strait of Hormuz, where oil goes through to the world market. That’s why the price of oil is up. Nobody disputes that. That’s why the price of diesel is up. This is the reason why the price of just about everything is up.
Hegseth working on his hair
Meanwhile, you’ve got the defense secretary who’s squarely focused on important matters like jawlines and testosterone levels, and troops live-streaming executions –because that’s how he thinks you cultivate that manly warrior spirit. How much time do you think this defense secretary spends looking at himself in the mirror in the morning?
You know he’s working his hair because that’s how warriors look. These are not serious people.You know he’s working his hair because that’s how warriors look. These are not serious people.
Let’s be honest, does anybody really think this guy in the White House now is spending all that time thinking about these issues? No. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, he seems very into home renovations. He should be on HGTV. The guy’s building a ballroom bigger than the White House.
He’s paved over the Rose Garden. Put a helicopter pad on the South Lawn, and there’s gold everywhere. What’s up with the gold? He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory. There’s gold everywhere, believe me.
We have never seen a president excel so wildly in just straight-up grifting on your dime. We’ve never seen a president so intent on selling favors and shaking folks down. We have lost count of all the deals he and his family have done, from meme coins to taxpayer-funded contracts for his kids’ companies. And this is someone who has become billions of dollars wealthier in office.
So you remember that whole thing about drain the swamp? The only thing that got drained was the reflecting pool on the National Mall after some no-bid contract messed it up, and then they tried to blame a three-time Olympian and say he vandalized it.
Our last best chance to rein in Trump
We’re not stuck with that. This election is our last best chance at least to rein in some of this administration’s foolishness. It’s the circuit breaker in the system. We need to flip that circuit breaker. We need to start holding this administration accountable.
And you’ve got a governor’s race here in Ohio. One political observer was recently asked whether Vivek Ramaswamy wants to be a good governor or some kind of political celebrity, and the observer said, “I don’t know. I assume to be both.” This wasn’t some Democratic pundit who said this. It was Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
We all know that guy who’s just thirsty, wants attention no matter what, and, in recent days, we’ve seen there is no line he will not cross, no low he will not sink to get in the limelight.
Think about the latest ad he ran. I don’t know what’s happened, where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that somebody can run an ad like that. There’s got to be something inside you that says, “No office is worth stooping that low.”
And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being angry. And I’m tired of being divided. I want to go out and shake my neighbor’s hand; I want to get to work doing something for somebody else.
This election can be a start. This election can be an inflection point. This election can course-correct America’s long journey toward a more perfect union. Because if we’re willing to turn out in big numbers and across the country, if we’re willing to vote for change and vote for Democrats up and down the ballot, then this election might just mark the moment this country began moving in a better direction.
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