A recent Donald Trump speech saw Trump take shots at many of his political rivals, including Barack Obama.
Donald Trump has long taken shots at his political rivals, so this isn’t particularly new but his most recent has seen the POTUS face a backlash on social media.
During a speech speaking about his second-term achievements in the White House, Trump ridiculed Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
White House message reversed
Speaking to reporters, Trump described Biden as the worst president in American history and referred to him with his unflattering nickname ‘sleepy Biden’.
He also said that Harris was ‘as bad as he was’ and joked that he’ll give the pair of them an IQ test next week.
When it came to Obama, he said he was ‘almost as bad’
Trump claimed Obama was a terrible president (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking for an hour at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s fundraising dinner a few days later, Trump again took aim at Obama.
Trump said: “If you go back to Obama, he was a great divider. He divided this nation. He was a lousy president. The worst president in history was Biden. But Obama was a terrible president.”
On social media, Trump faced some backlash for his comments critiquing these Democrat figures, namely his dismissive comments about Harris.
One user remarked: “”Why does he always talk about low IQ when his is incredibly low? Does he know that he is an idiot and he tries to play it off and think we wont notice?”
Another wrote: “The most unintelligent and inarticulate president in American history has the audacity to criticize someone’s competence.”
Trump faced a backlash online for his comments (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Others have also pointed out that Trump’s recent comments about his cognitive abilities caused a stir. Trump insisted that he took a cognitive three times and doctors praised him on how well he had done.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting, Trump said: “I’m the only president that ever took a cognitive test.
“I took it three times. It’s actually a very hard test for a lot of people. It wasn’t hard for me…It starts off with an easy question and by the time you get to the middle it gets tougher – mathematical equations and things.
“I aced it all three times, in front of numerous doctors.
“I was told when I went in… ‘Well, if you take it… and you do badly, it’s probably going to get out…’ One doctor said, ‘I’ve never seen anybody get them all right, I’ve been doing the test for twenty years.”Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Earl Gibson III/Deadline via Getty Images
Obama seemingly makes subtle dig at Donald Trump in 4th July message
The comments came after Trump signed off his ‘big beautiful bill’ on Friday
People are convinced former president Barack Obama’s 4th July message was meant as a scathing attack on Donald Trump.
The comments came after Trump signed off his ‘big, beautiful bill’ on Friday which was passed in Congress on Thursday (July 3) after representatives approved it with a 218-214 vote.
The almost 1,000-page budget revamp is set to add some $3.4 trillion to the country’s national debt (which currently stands at $36.2 trillion) over the next decade.
Among other things, it’s set to deliver tax breaks Trump promised when he was running for president in 2024, while also cutting health and food safety programmes.
You can read about everything that’s in the bill here.
Ahead of the vote, Obama urged Americans to call their representatives and ask them to vote against the mega bill.
Obama is against Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“More than 16 million Americans are at risk of losing their health care because Republicans in Congress are rushing to pass a bill that would cut federal funding for Medicaid and weaken the Affordable Care Act,” he said last week.
“If the House passes this bill, it will increase costs and hurt working class families for generations to come.
“Call your representative today and tell them to vote no on this bill.”
Writing on social media after the bill was approved – and on July 4 – Obama said: “Independence Day is a reminder that America is not the project of any one person.
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ was approved by representatives (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ America is owned by no one. It belongs to all citizens.
“And at this moment in history—when core democratic principles seem to be continuously under attack, when too many people around the world have become cynical and disengaged—now is precisely the time to ask ourselves tough questions about how we can build our democracies and make them work in meaningful and practical ways for ordinary people.”
People thought Obama’s message could have been about Trump (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
People were convinced that the message subtly referenced Trump, while others thanked Obama for the words of encouragement.
“I’m trying my best to enjoy this day, but I can’t help to think about the millions and millions of people who will lose their helpful resources since this Bill had been passed. I like that line…’America is owned by no one.’ ‘It belongs to all citizens.’ Amen, sir,” one wrote.
While another added: “Thank you. Keep them coming your words of encouragement bc I’ve never felt such despair as I do now.”Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Spencer Platt
Updated 16:52 2 Nov 2025 GMTPublished 16:49 2 Nov 2025 GMT
Eye-opening poll reveals whether Americans prefer Obama or Trump as president
The insight comes ahead of gubernatorial elections on Tuesday
A new poll has lifted the lid on how American voters currently feel about Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Voters in Virginia and New Jersey are set to head to the ballot box for crucial gubernatorial elections on Tuesday (November 4), amid rising tensions over the 2026 midterm elections in Congress.
The former Democratic 44th POTUS, Obama, appeared before rallies in Newark and Norfolk on Saturday (November 1) to lend his support to candidates Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger who polls suggest both Democrats could win.
Yet while delivering his speeches, the 64-year-old appeared to depart from his usual diplomatic reserve by taking aim at the current Trump administration.
He said the Republicans’ policies are ‘worse than even I expected’ before launching into his tirade, going on to infer Trump has waged a war against free speech, immigrants and public health while deploying the National Guard to cities in a bid to stop ‘crime waves that don’t actually exist’.
Now, an eye-opening poll from Marquette University has revealed Americans favor Obama over Trump based on a survey of 1,005 adults across the country from September 5 to September 24 this year.
Obama slammed the Trump administration in his speeches over the weekend (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The poll revealed 42 per cent of US citizens said they viewed Trump favourably, to 57 per cent who said they viewed him unfavorably, leaving the POTUS with a net favourability of -15 points.
Meanwhile, 57 per cent said they view Obama favorably, against 40 per cent who didn’t, giving him a net favorability of 17 points.
Meena Bose, executive dean of Hofstra University’s Peter S. Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, told Newsweek that the poll appears to show Obama’s ‘personal appeal, inspirational rhetoric, and unanticipated success in the 2008 presidential race continue to have strong public support’.
She added: “The promise of hope and change was a defining feature of the Obama presidential campaign and still influences assessments of his presidency.”
The poll ranks the POTUS with a negative favourability rating (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
However, the poll doesn’t necessarily indicate a shift towards the former president or even Democrats, as it surveyed the favorability of all presidents since Ronald Reagan, who stands as the most preferred of any other with a net +28 rating, while Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, suffered the worst of them all.
The 46th POTUS scored a staggering -24 net favourability rating.
Bose explained Biden’s shocking low result could have come from his withdrawal from the campaign, which may ‘overshadow current assessments of his presidency.’
Former President George H.W. Bush scored a +17 favorability rating, while both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush shared a +8 favorability.
The insight comes as Obama continues to remain popular among the electorate since his time in office came to a close in 2017.
No other president scored as poorly as Joe Biden (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
A Gallup poll earlier this year found he was the most popular living president (in the eyes of 59 per cent of participants to 36 per cent).
It also comes as Democrats hope to anchor Republican candidates across the country to Trump during the gubernatorial races and ahead of the midterm elections next year.
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, told the Mirror US: “The question is whether or not Republicans are doing enough this time to completely breach it or partially breach it.
“I think even among the most nervous of Democrats, there’s no question that Republicans have to have a very big Election Day in order to be able to overcome what could be as much as 250 or 275,000 vote margin for Democrats at this point.”Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Scott Olson/Getty Images/Andrew Harnik
Updated 12:16 22 Jan 2026 GMTPublished 12:12 22 Jan 2026 GMT
Michelle Obama reveals whether Barack would run for president again if term rules were changed
“This is a hard job, and it requires new energy, new vision all the time.”
Former First Lady Michelle Obama has delved into whether her husband’s hypothetical return to the White House should be sanctioned.
Between 2009 and 2017, Barack Obama’s US presidency was instrumental in the recovery from the Great Recession, as well as the end of the Iraq War and the assassination of September 11 terrorist Osama bin Laden (under Operation Neptune Spear).
After two terms in the Oval Office, he made way for controversial candidate Donald Trump, who restored his own presidency in 2024 after a Joe Biden-shaped gap.
His wife Michelle, who was recently forced to address divorce rumours, joined the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, where she told host Alex Cooper whether or not Barack would campaign for ultimate political power if his successor does in fact manage to change the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which currently stops a president from running for more than eight years.
Michelle Obama doesn’t want her husband to run for president again (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
“The future is whatever we want it to be, so if… this is all hypothetical… if Trump does change the law and runs for a third term, hypothetically… do you think your husband would consider running?” asked the podcaster.
“I hope not. I would actively work against that,” her guest replied.
Quite a bold statement, don’t you think? But Obama knows the country needs an injection of ‘new energy’ on a regular basis.
“We’re changing and growing so fast. This is a hard job, and it requires new energy, new vision all the time. New ways of looking at the world, right? So I do believe that eight years is enough,” she argued. “People with a new set of experiences, a new set of, a new take on the world. This new generation is coming up. They travel more, they know more about the world, they’re exposed in a different way. Like, I’m really, really curious about their perspectives on how to fix some of this stuff.
“Like, we don’t have all the answers and that’s okay. That’s why we move on.”
Trump could well be challenging the 22nd Amendment in the shadows right now, having told the media last October ‘we’ll see what happens’ when it comes to a third campaign. He’s even gone so far as to launch wearables promoting the idea, such as his ‘Trump 2028’ caps.
This comes after a poll showed how Obama and Trump would do in a head-to-head race in 2028. The former won with a 52 percent confidence vote.Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Obama makes chilling admission about Trump administration during rally and it might leave you shocked
The former president didn’t hold back in his passionate speech
Barack Obama has made a bombshell admission about the current Trump administration during his speech.
The former Democratic 44th President of the United States appeared before a rally in Newark on Saturday (November 1) in a bid to lend his support to New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill.
As election day inches closer, Sherrill currently holds a mere single digit lead against her Republican rival, Jack Ciattarelli, according to public polling.
While delivering his passionate speech at the event, Obama appeared to make a chilling admission about the current Trump administration, departing from his usual diplomatic reserve.
The former POTUS said the Republican’s policies are ‘worse than even I expected.’
Obama with Mikie Sherrill (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It is not as if we didn’t see some of this coming,” Obama said. “I will admit it is worse than even I expected, but I did warn you all. You can run the tape.
“Any by the way, he warned you too, because he said what he would do.
“But the fact is there were plenty of people who voted for Trump and Republicans anyway,” he continued. “And it wasn’t because they wanted to give up the right to free speech or see public health systems torn down, but because they were understandably frustrated with inflation and gas prices and the difficulty of affording a home and worries about their children’s future.”
Obama added in his scathing criticism: “We’ve got a president who deployed the national guard in American cities and claimed to be stopping crime waves that don’t actually exist.
The POTUS jetted off to Mar-A-Lago over the weekend (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
“We’ve got masked ICE agents in unmarked vans pulling people in off the streets, including US citizens, on the suspicion that they don’t look like real Americans.
“It’s like every day is Halloween except it’s all tricks and no treats,” Obama said in reference to reported immigration raids in Chicago and Los Angeles on October 31.
Meanwhile, backing Abigail Spanberger in Norfolk, Virginia, he also made digs at President Trump – particularly touching on his recent White House renovations.
“As for the president, he has been focused on critical issues like paving over the Rose Garden so folks don’t get mud on their shoes, and gold-plating the Oval Office and building a $300m ballroom,” Obama said.
“So Virginia, here’s the good news. If you can’t visit a doctor, don’t worry, he will save you a dance.”
Obama appeared in Virginia to lend support to Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
His comments come as the federal government’s full scale shutdown surpassed its first full month, starting on October 1.
So far, there appears to be no end in sight to the feud with Democrats demanding to extend health insurance subsidies amid Trump’s ongoing assault on the budget and national spending.
Obama’s troubling words also came amid tensions around the up-coming Election Day on Tuesday (November 4).
Democrats have high hopes Sherrill will win next week, with an almost 860,000-voter-registration advantage over the opposition, while a Suffolk University poll also placed her with a four-point lead over her opponent.
However, the most recent Emerson College Polling/P1X11/The Hill poll last week revealed Democrats have a narrow margin, only being ahead of Ciattarelli 49 percent to 48 percent.
Chicago pressed ahead with Halloween celebrations, even amid increased ICE activity (Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images)
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, told the Mirror US: “The question is whether or not Republicans are doing enough this time to completely breach it or partially breach it.
“I think even among the most nervous of Democrats, there’s no question that Republicans have to have a very big Election Day in order to be able to overcome what could be as much as 250 or 275,000 vote-margin for Democrats at this point.”
As for Spanberger, polls suggest the Democrat has 14-point lead against Republican governor, Winsome Earle-Sears.