Obama Mocks Trump's White House Makeover and Backs Ossoff at Georgia Rally

Barack Obama delivered what amounted to a closing argument for Democrats at a Wednesday rally in suburban Atlanta, as the midterm election campaign entered its last week. "These are not serious people," he said of Donald Trump and the Republican party. "And we're all paying the price for their lack of seriousness."

The former president traveled to Georgia to boost US senator Jon Ossoff, former Atlanta mayor and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, and several Democrats lower on the ballot. The stop was part of a cross-country tour ahead of next week's election. Between 3,500 and 4,000 people packed the Discovery Center of Clayton county, just south of Atlanta.

Obama has used his recent appearances to deliver sharp criticism of Trump and Republican candidates, a tone that has been unusual for a former president. On Wednesday he again took aim at Trump's gilded renovations of the White House, and at the angry reaction to his joke from last week comparing them to Saddam Hussein decorating a Cheesecake Factory.

"The Saddam Hussein thing didn't bother him. But he was very upset about the Cheesecake Factory," Obama said. He added that the strangest part was that officials "mobilized a whole government response to that joke." According to Obama, the White House even called the secretary of the treasury, who is working on how to lower inflation, and told him to hold a press conference in front of the restaurant.

Obama also rejected Republican claims that mentioning the popular chain was snobbish. "I am the father of two daughters," he said. "Do you think I could have survived their childhood without going to the Cheesecake Factory?" He then pivoted to affordability concerns for American voters, contrasting them with what he described as corruption in the presidency. "We have never seen a president so intent on selling favors," he said, claiming Trump has made billions of dollars while in office.

The new ballroom being built on the site of the former East Wing of the White House came up in remarks from many speakers, including Ossoff. He said Trump "digs the moral pit deeper" each day and accused the president of leading "the most corrupt administration of all time." Referring to Democratic pledges to pursue impeachment if the party wins control of Congress next year, Ossoff said anyone involved would be "raising your hand to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." The crowd responded with chants of "Lock him up!"

Bottoms drew a contrast with her Republican opponent, billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson, tying him to Trump and calling them "two out-of-touch billionaires who want to keep getting rich on the backs of taxpayers." She invoked John Lewis and Coretta Scott King and said of her opponents, "They may have the money, but they will never overtake our movement."

Ossoff leads his Republican opponent, US Representative Mike Collins, by eight to 10 points in polling. Bottoms, by contrast, is statistically tied with Jackson. A Bottoms victory would end the Republican trifecta in Georgia, in place since 2004, in which the GOP has held both legislative chambers and the governor's office.

Rev Raphael Warnock, Georgia's other senator, warned of "spiritual wickedness in high places" as he described the impact of deep cuts to Medicaid and Snap nutrition support for children. "This is about the character of the country," he said. Trump campaigned in Ohio at the same time and has held near-daily rallies in the closing days of the race, including two Georgia appearances in two weeks in districts that would otherwise appear safe for Republicans.