CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — With less than two weeks to go before Election Day 2024, former President Barack Obama returned to North Carolina to make the case for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Obama has been campaigning heavily for Harris in recent weeks, including at a joint rally alongside the vice president in Georgia on Thursday. North Carolina and Georgia both hold sixteen electoral votes, ranking second behind only Pennsylvania among all seven battleground states.
Much of the former president’s Friday night remarks focused on the economy, which has consistently polled as voters’ top issue ahead of Election Day, with Obama conceding that costs remain too high for many people.
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“Many folks here in North Carolina and across the country are struggling to pay the bills, and now understand — it’s important. Wages are steadily growing, unemployment is low, inflation is finally slowing, but the price of everything, from healthcare to housing groceries, it’s still too high, and that hurts,” he stated.
Former President Donald Trump has polled ahead of Harris for most of the election when it comes to economic stewardship, but Obama claimed that any economic progress ushered in during Trump’s first term was because of the progress Obama’s own administration made over his eight years in office.
“Traveling around the country, I talked to some people. Some people say, ‘Well you know what? I remember the economy being pretty good when Donald Trump first came into office.’ Yes, it was pretty good because it was my economy,” he declared, earning raucous cheers from the crowd.
“We had had 75 straight months of job growth and handed it over to Donald Trump, and all he did was give a tax cut to folks who didn’t need it and dried up the rest in the process. So do not give him credit for that,” Obama continued before attempting to head off people lauding Trump for sending direct relief checks. “Joe Biden sent you a check during the pandemic, just like I gave relief to the American people with the help of Congress during the Great Recession. “The difference is we didn’t put our name on the check because it wasn’t about feeding our egos or advancing our politics. It was about helping people get by during a crisis, so please do not give him credit for an economy he didn’t have anything to do with making work.”
Ultimately, Obama argued that, unlike Trump, Harris actually has “actual plans” for improving the economy, as opposed to “concepts of a plan” like the former president.
“So if somebody tells you this election doesn’t matter, explain, no, it does matter. It makes a difference when you have a leader who sees you and cares about you and thinks about you. They don’t need to be perfect, but they need to try,” he closed. “If enough of us make our voices heard, we will leave no doubt about the outcome of this election, we will leave no doubt about who we are and what America stands for, and, together, we will keep building a country that’s more fair and more just and more equal and more free.”
The Tar Heel State hasn’t gone blue in a presidential election since 2008, during Obama’s first campaign for the White House, and the former president’s popularity in North Carolina was evident Friday night. Lines of awaiting attendees wrapped fully around the Charlotte Convention Center hours before Obama was scheduled to speak, and guests danced along to Harris’s campaign DJ before the program started.
Obama was preceded by a number of speakers, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Holder specifically attacked House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-NC) for calling for the state’s 16 Electoral College votes to be awarded to former President Donald Trump early because of the damage to the western part of the state. The comment drew loud boos from the crowd and a shout of “Don’t boo — vote!”
“That’s Barack’s line,” Holder responded, earning laughs. “Here’s the deal. You can vote. You can boo and vote. How about that?”
Obama’s speech itself wasn’t without hiccups. Just minutes after taking the stage, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted his remarks, chanting “Free Palestine!” and waving flags and signage.
Meanwhile, at least three attendees required medical attention during the event. The Harris campaign did not say how many guests were in attendance Friday night, but the Grand Ballroom at the Charlotte Convention Center was filled to capacity.
Trump leads Harris by less than appoint in North Carolina, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. He won the state in 2020 with a margin of 1.3%.
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Harris opted not to campaign in North Carolina this week, though her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), held a rally in Wilmington on Thursday.
Trump, on the other hand, blanketed North Carolina this week, holding three campaign rallies on Monday and Tuesday along with a separate visit to storm-ravaged Asheville. Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), also held a rally in Charlotte on Friday evening.
