First posted on Instagram
Former President Barack Obama accused the Trump White House of "bending the knee" to Russian President Vladimir Putin and "selling out Ukrainians" fighting for their freedom and democracy, in a campaign speech at a Democratic rally in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday, October 28.
Obama was campaigning for Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seeking re-election against Republican Representative Mike Collins, and for former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for Georgia governor, who faces Republican Rick Jackson. The rally took place at the Arena at Southlake in Morrow, ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The remark came as Obama contrasted the administration's treatment of allies with its approach to Moscow: "And while we're alienating key allies like Canada, the White House is bending the knee to Vladimir Putin of Russia and selling out Ukrainians, who are fighting for their freedom and democracy." The line drew boos from the crowd, and Obama answered: "Do not boo, vote!"
The criticism lands as Washington continues efforts to broker a settlement in Ukraine: U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg on October 21, a day after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway, and President Trump has said a meeting between himself, Putin and Zelenskyy would be set up "very soon".
Obama's Georgia visit followed two recent campaign stops in the state by President Trump, in Dalton on October 16 and Perry on October 24. Georgia is seeing heavy early voting: according to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, 2,000,452 people had voted early in person as of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, with another 97,382 absentee ballots accepted — nearly 2.1 million in total, already surpassing the 1,640,652 early ballots cast during the entire early-voting period in the 2022 midterms. Early voting continues through Friday, October 30.
The wider speech also took aim at the administration's tariffs — Obama said economists warned consumers would pay the tab, "and that's exactly what happened" — and at the national debt, which he put at $40 trillion.