Obama warns Dems against obsessing over Trump, putting ‘basic interests’ on back burner

Former President Barack Obama warned Democrats not to focus as much energy on former President Donald Trump leading up to the midterms and suggested they should focus on substantive issues that most voters care about. 

“We spend enormous amounts of time and energy and resources pointing out the latest crazy thing he said, or how rude or mean some of these Republican candidates behaved,” the former president said during a Friday night appearance on the “Pod Save America” podcast. 

“That’s probably not something that in the minds of most voters overrides their basic interests. Can I pay the rent? What are gas prices? How am I dealing with childcare?”

Obama is headed to Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin this month to help campaign for Democrat candidates in tight races.

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“The great thing that I think we have going for us is, is that even with really slim majorities, what we’ve shown is, is that we can deliver,’ Obama said on the podcast.

Obama’s swing state appearances come as polling heading into the midterms shows President Biden’s approval rating sits at approximately 44% among U.S. adults. 

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The polling shows that only 32% approve of the White House’s handling of inflation. On the economy as a whole, only 36% approved of Biden’s performance.

Additionally, just 15% of respondents expressed strong approval for his overall job performance.

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Obama also suggested in the podcast appearance that Democrats should be wary of being “buzzkills” by making people feel concerned about “walking on eggshells” in the era of cancel culture.

“My family, my kids, work that gives me satisfaction, having fun,” Obama said. “Hell, not being a buzzkill. And sometimes Democrats are. Sometimes people just want to not feel as if they are walking on eggshells, and they want some acknowledgment that life is messy and that all of us, at any given moment, can say things the wrong way, make mistakes.”