Former United States President Barack Obama told a Democratic rally in Georgia on Wednesday that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are not focused on the cost of living, six days before the November 3 midterm elections. Campaigning for Senator Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms, Obama argued that voters are paying the price for what he called a lack of seriousness in Washington, and urged supporters to turn anger over rising prices into votes.
The rally, held in the final days of a midterm campaign dominated by affordability, the war with Iran and the price of oil, gave Obama one of his sharpest platforms of the cycle. He contrasted his own approach to diplomacy with the current administration’s record, mocked the White House’s response to a joke he had made about its renovations, and accused Trump of profiting from office — arguments Democrats hope will energise their base in Georgia, one of the most closely watched battleground states.
Key Takeaways
- Obama campaigned in Georgia for Senator Jon Ossoff and gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms ahead of the November 3 midterms.
- He called Trump and Republicans “not serious people” and said voters end up paying the price for that lack of seriousness.
- He tied rising prices to the war with Iran, tariffs and what he described as misplaced priorities in Washington.
What Obama Said in Georgia
Obama’s central line was aimed directly at the president and his party. “These are not serious people,” he said, adding: “And the problem is you end up having to pay the price for their lack of seriousness.” The remark, reported from the rally, framed the midterms not only as a choice between parties but as a test of competence — whether the people running the government are attending to the problems voters actually face.
He urged the crowd to channel frustration into turnout. “They can’t hear your boos, but they can hear your vote,” he said, according to reports from the rally, as he told supporters that change would come through ballots rather than protests alone. He described voters as hungry for something new, saying people were “so sick and tired of being sick and tired” that change felt in the air in Georgia.
These are not serious people.
The Georgia race matters to both parties. Ossoff, the Democratic senator seeking re-election, faces Republican Representative Mike Collins, according to reports from the rally, while Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, is the Democratic nominee for governor. Obama’s appearance was designed to boost both campaigns — and Democratic turnout statewide — in the last week before polling day.
Why the Economy Is at the Centre
Obama’s argument rested on affordability. He said the administration had paid more attention to his joke about White House renovations — he had quipped that the residence looked as if Saddam Hussein had opened a Cheesecake Factory there — than to the rising cost of living. Reports noted that the White House had mobilised a government response to the joke, including a press conference by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a reaction Obama presented as evidence of misplaced priorities.
He also attacked Trump’s record in office in personal terms, saying: “We have never seen a president so intent on selling favours,” and adding that “the guy has made billions of dollars while in office.” Those claims are Obama’s campaign arguments, not independently verified findings, and they form part of a broader Democratic case that the administration has focused on its own interests while households struggle with prices. He further criticised congressional Republicans for not holding the president to account.
On policy, Obama pointed to tariffs and the administration’s handling of the economy as drivers of higher costs for ordinary Americans. He closed on values, citing a 1954 sermon by Martin Luther King Jr. and arguing: “There is a moral component to the choices we face right now.” He said the economy could not be fixed while the country had “a culture where anything goes,” in which people in high office thought it acceptable to lie, cheat and bully.
The Iran War and the Price of Oil
The war with Iran ran through Obama’s speech as well, linking foreign policy directly to household budgets. He blamed the Trump administration for rising prices and tied them to the conflict, saying the United States had “run down our stock of missiles,” that allies and bases had been struck, and that Americans had been killed and hundreds wounded. He said Iran now had “veto power” over the Strait of Hormuz, which he called “the reason why the price of oil is up.”
That contrasted with his own record, he argued: “I didn’t have to fire any missiles. I engaged in diplomacy.” The line was a direct challenge to the administration’s approach to Iran, at a moment when backchannel efforts to revive talks with Iran are being explored and when Iran’s leadership has been weighing how to end what it calls a state of neither war nor peace. For voters, Obama’s point was practical rather than abstract: a war that disrupts oil supplies shows up at the petrol pump, and diplomacy, in his telling, is the cheaper path.
The administration, for its part, has defended its Iran policy and its handling of the economy, and Trump has campaigned in rival states in the same period, drawing enthusiastic crowds of his own while also facing protesters at some rallies. The competing rallies underline how polarised the final week has become: both parties are turning out their bases, and Georgia is one of the places where that contest is sharpest.
- Obama campaigned in Georgia on Wednesday, October 28, for Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms.
- The November 3 midterm elections are six days after the rally.
- Ossoff faces Republican Representative Mike Collins in the Senate race, according to rally reports.
- Obama tied rising prices to the Iran war, tariffs and administration priorities.
- He urged supporters to turn boos into votes: “They can’t hear your boos, but they can hear your vote.”
What the Rally Means for November 3
Midterm elections are often a referendum on the sitting president, and Obama’s speech leaned into that dynamic. By calling Republicans “not serious people,” he gave Democrats a simple closing message: the governing party is distracted, and voters are bearing the cost. Whether that message moves undecided voters in Georgia — or simply fires up existing supporters — will only become clear when the votes are counted.
The rally also showed how much of the campaign is now fought over attention itself. A joke about White House gold decorations and a new ballroom became a multi-day story, with the administration responding in detail and Obama using that response as proof of his point. In a campaign season saturated with midterm campaign messaging, the candidate who controls the story of the week can set the terms of the final days — and both Obama and Trump spent Wednesday trying to do exactly that, in rival states.
What to Watch Next
What to watch next is whether Obama’s Georgia appearance lifts Democratic turnout for Ossoff and Bottoms, whether his “not serious people” line becomes the closing argument of the final six days, and whether voters judge the administration on prices and the Iran war as he urged them to do. The other test is the one he set himself: whether boos turn into votes on November 3, and whether Georgia — a state both parties are fighting hard to win — delivers the change he said was in the air.