Former President Barack Obama attacked President Donald Trump over prices, tariffs and the Iran war at an Obama Cleveland rally on Saturday, while Trump rallied Republicans in Perry, Georgia, 10 days before the midterm elections.
The Ohio event was Obama's first rally of the 2026 midterms, the BBC reported. He then appeared in Detroit with Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and other Michigan Democrats, according to CNN.
The 3 November vote will decide which party controls Congress for the rest of Trump's presidency, and early voting has already begun, according to the BBC. The rival speeches set out the main lines of the contest: fuel and consumer prices, Trump's tariffs, the war with Iran and immigration.
What Obama said at his Cleveland rally
In Cleveland, Obama campaigned for former Senator Sherrod Brown, who is running to unseat Republican Senator John Husted. He also campaigned for Amy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor running against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, the BBC reported.
"After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in the modern era, you get a chance to say, 'enough is enough,'" Obama told the crowd, according to the BBC.
"This election is our last best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration," he said.
Obama said he sympathized with voters who rejected Democrats in 2024 over economic and inflation concerns after the Covid pandemic, but argued that Trump was to blame for the current state of the economy, the BBC reported. He also said the Iran war had given Tehran "veto power" over the Strait of Hormuz.
Obama criticized Ramaswamy over a campaign ad released last week that featured Acton's estranged mother calling her a liar. According to the BBC, the ad did not mention that the woman's husband was charged with raping Acton when she was a child.
Obama in Michigan: why he campaigned with Abdul El-Sayed
In Detroit, Obama repeated his criticism of years of "chaos, and cruelty, and corruption" under Trump, CNN reported. He also condemned Trump's tariffs on Canada.
Obama said he could relate to the attacks El-Sayed faces from Republicans over his name, according to CNN. Trump has wrongly referred to El-Sayed as "Mohammed" and has falsely called the Democratic Senate nominee a "jihadist," CNN reported.
Trump previously promoted the false conspiracy claim that Obama was not born in the United States, CNN noted.
Trump Perry Georgia rally: tariffs, fuel and a $5,000 payout pledge
In Perry, Trump campaigned for Republican Rep. Mike Collins, who is challenging Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff. He promoted his administration's immigration and tariff policies and told supporters "we're in the golden age of America," the BBC reported.
Trump said "we're taking in massive amounts of money through tariffs" and claimed Democrats would "loot your wealth" and "annihilate your borders," according to the BBC.
He repeated his pledge to give every adult American a $5,000 (£3,700) payout if Republicans win both chambers of Congress, the BBC reported. Neither outlet reported how the payment would be structured or funded.
On fuel, Trump acknowledged that oil prices were "temporarily high" but said "those pump prices are going to come down," according to the BBC. The BBC reported that fuel prices have risen because of the wars in Iran and Ukraine, putting pressure on the president.
Asked about Iran as he voted earlier in the day, Trump said: "I've done it very effectively and I may have to finish it off, or maybe they'll make a deal, but I'm not sure. Either way, we win."
CNN reported that Trump continued to denigrate Somali immigrants at the rally and wondered aloud why the United States does not take in more people from Nordic countries such as Sweden or Norway.
Trump also announced that Audi will invest $4.2 billion in a "massive plant" in Macon, Georgia. He said the factory would make 200,000 cars a year and bring 30,000 jobs to the area, according to CNN, which described it as the latest in a string of projects and pledges Trump has unveiled in key states before the midterms. No timeline for the plant was reported.
A Georgia Senate seat Trump called a possible "shocker"
Trump told supporters that a Collins victory over Ossoff would be "somewhat of a shocker," CNN reported. Collins has trailed Ossoff in fundraising, according to CNN.
CNN also reported that Democrats are going on offense in Republican-leaning and competitive states, while Republican operatives have abandoned some opportunities to flip seats.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump cast their ballots early in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday. CNN noted that Trump has opposed early and mail-in voting in the past but has promoted it this election cycle.
What the record Justice Department poll-monitor deployment means for voters
The Justice Department plans to send more than 1,000 election monitors on Election Day, an effort it calls "the biggest DOJ election observer effort in history," CNN reported. That is hundreds more than the Biden administration deployed in 2024.
In an interview with Atlanta News First before the Perry rally, Trump played down concerns about monitors at voting locations across Georgia. "They want to watch. They're not going to do anything other than watch," he said, according to CNN.
Justice Department monitors and partisan observers have long been part of Election Day, and there is no evidence the monitoring will disrupt polling places or prevent anyone from voting, CNN reported.
Some fear that the growing number of federal and party monitors could lead to more incidents being highlighted, including minor errors or baseless fraud claims, which could then be used to reinforce claims that US elections are not secure, according to CNN. The monitors are due to be deployed on 3 November, when the remaining votes are cast.