Former President Trump on Friday complained that the Obamas were “nasty” in their Democratic convention speeches and ribbed his advisers for suggesting he stick to policy instead of personal attacks.
“He was nasty to me. He was nasty. Michelle was nasty. They’re all nasty,” Trump said at a rally in Arizona, referencing speeches delivered earlier in the week by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention.
Trump criticized Vice President Harris, his opponent in November’s election, for repeatedly attacking him during her acceptance speech on Thursday night. He also mocked her for repeatedly thanking the crowd as they applauded before beginning her remarks.
The former president told his supporters that his advisers tell him to “stick to policy don’t stick to personality.”
“I call them up, my geniuses, they get paid a fortune. Actually, not that much. I say, ‘They’re knocking the hell out of me and you say I shouldn’t get personal. I have to get personal. They get personal,'” Trump said. “So they’re allowed to get personal with me but I’m not allowed to get personal to them. They call me names that are so bad. Our great first lady says, ‘But you’re not that way, darling.'”
The former president has at recent rallies openly asked his supporters whether he should continue with personal attacks on Harris, who has erased his polling lead since replacing President Biden as the Democratic nominee. His advisers and allies have publicly pleaded with Trump to focus more on policy issues that matter to voters.
Trump and the Obamas have been political rivals for years, but there has also been personal animosity because of Trump pushing the false conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in the United States for years.
Michelle Obama, making a rare public and political appearance at the DNC, slammed Trump on Tuesday as someone who has benefited from generational wealth and doesn’t understand hard work.
“Who’s going to tell him, that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” she said.
Former President Obama likened Trump to an annoying neighbor with a leaf blower and argued the GOP nominee was only interested in serving himself.