Obama pulls no punches in savage two-word message for Democrats struggling to fight back against Trump
On Friday, Obama headlined a private fundraiser in New Jersey hosted by the state's current Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in support of the Democratic nominee of New Jersey governor, Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
CNN obtained excerpts of the former president's remarks.
'You know, don't tell me you're a Democrat, but you're kind of disappointed right now, so you're not doing anything,' Obama said. 'No, now is exactly the time that you get in there and do something.'
The ex-president complained about party members grumbling over there not being a defined leader of the party.
'I think it's going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions,' he said. 'And it's going to require Democrats to just toughen up.'
There are two off-year elections that Obama said Democrats should be focused on - the governors races in New Jersey and Virginia.
In past years, both races have been considered bellwethers - and if Democrats are successful they could give them momentum going into the midterms.
Obama called the races 'a big jumpstart for where we need to go.'
'Stop looking for the quick fix,' he told the crowd. 'Stop looking for the messiah.'
'You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates,' the ex-president said.
In New Jersey, Democrats nominated Sherrill, a 53-year-old former Navy officer and federal prosecutor, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, when Democratic candidates swept the House of Representatives in a rebuke of Trump's first term.
In the primary last month, New Jersey Republicans selected former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli to be there guy.
He was backed by Trump.
Ciattarelli unsuccessfully pursued the governorship in both 2017 and 2021 - losing the primary in 2017 and losing the general election to Murphy in 2021.
Murphy is term-limited so not pursuing re-election.
In Virginia, the state's voters will make history no matter what and elect their first female governor.
Democrats nominated former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, while Republicans nominated the state's current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, as the commonwealth's current GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin is term-limited.
'Make sure that the DNC has what it needs to compete in what will be a more data-driven, more social media-driven cycle, which will cost some money and expertise and time,' Obama advised on the two races.
More broadly, he encouraged Democrats to 'stand up for the things that you think are right.'
'Don't say that you care deeply about free speech and then you're quiet. No, you stand up for free speech when it's hard. When somebody says something that you don't like, but you still say, "You know what, that person has the right to speak." … What's needed now is courage,' Obama said.
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The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
What does Donald Trump have to prove to win his WSJ lawsuit over ‘fake' Epstein card?
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Former federal prosecutor Chris Mattei said the lawsuit may allow the Journal to seek reciprocal discovery – meaning it can ask Trump to provide additional information or evidence that he did not write the letter, as well as details about his relationship with Epstein and whether he was aware of his crimes. "If Trump's defense is that this was false, then any evidence suggesting that he had a relationship with Epstein, the degree to which that relationship was close or not, would be relevant to the question of whether or not it's likely Trump had any sort of role in this letter," Mattei said. "And so an aggressive Wall Street Journal here would seek broad discovery about the extent of Trump's relationship with Epstein." Mattei said he felt Trump's case was unlikely to have merit, and likely stood as a test to 'explore what kind of power and leverage he has over the American media.' "There will be some period of weeks where The Wall Street Journal will be able to file its motion to dismiss if it wants to make a request for discovery, the judgment rule on that request could take a little bit more time," Mattei said. "And so if it is indeed contested, you could see the initial phase of this, including discovery, playing out over the next six months." What Trump is claiming in the lawsuit Despite the Journal's defense of its reporting, Trump still claims the Murdoch-owned paper exhibited 'glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting.' The story detailed a gift Trump allegedly gave Epstein for his 50th birthday that included a signed note from Trump inside a drawing of a naked woman. The note apparently included the disturbing phrase, 'may every day be another wonderful secret,' according to the report. The filing, however, notes that the Journal did not publish the drawing or the letter that it alleges Trump wrote. Trump denied writing the letter, going so far as to claim he has never drawn a picture in his life. 'I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women,' he said, according to the Journal. 'It's not my language. It's not my words.' The Wall Street Journal, however, later fired back in another story, highlighting several images drawn by Trump, including four that were auctioned off during his first term in office. Trump threatened legal action against the paper, and the two journalists whose bylines appear on the report, Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, were almost immediately targeted by CNN, the report stated. The president also took to his Truth Social platform to air his grievances about the story. ' The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued,' Trump wrote. Trump also claimed that Murdoch did not want to print the letter, but he 'did not have the power to do so,' prompting Trump to file the suit. After the article was published, Trump said he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to 'produce any and all pertinent grand jury testimony subject to Court approval.' On Friday, the Justice Department sought court approval for that public release. Federal prosecutors in 2019 charged Epstein with sex trafficking underage girls in both Florida and New York. He died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial. Trump has threatened other media outlets over coverage The president has regularly threatened to take legal action against media outlets over unflattering or antagonistic coverage. His lawsuits against ABC and CBS resulted in controversial settlements that have sparked fears among press freedom advocates that publishers are only emboldening the president's chilling message to the media. Now Murdoch, who also owns The New York Post and The Sun, once a close ally, has found himself in the same boat. The network ultimately settled that defamation lawsuit, which was brought by voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems, for a record-breaking $787 million.
