Featured Image Credit: CNN
Topics: Barack Obama, US News, Politics
Callum Jones
Barack Obama has been praised for the 'smooth' way he dealt with a heckler at a rally in Newark on Saturday (November 1).
While the 44th POTUS had planned to step aside from politics after he handed the baton over to Donald Trump in 2017, Obama has remained a public figure to this very day.
The Democrat claims he is doing this due to his disapproval of the current Trump administration, as well as claiming there are no real prominent figures within the party right now to bring the fight to Trump.
With that in mind, Obama appeared before a rally in Newark in a bid to lend his support to New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill.
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Sherrill currently holds a mere single-digit lead against her Republican rival, Jack Ciattarelli, according to public polling as election day edges closer.
Obama delivered a speech in front of the crowd, where he was greeted by a heckler shouting at him.
"Oh, I love you, but hold on. I heard you, girl," the former US president said back. " Just settle down. I'm here to talk to everybody, not just you. I mean, you look cute. But I’m married. Michelle's fine too."
Some would have been intimidated by the presence of a heckler, but not Obama. And some took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to praise the 64-year-old.
One person penned: "Obama is smooth, funny and effortlessly human. Only he could turn a heckle into a moment that makes everyone laugh and love him more."
While a second added: "Barack Obama they could never make me hate you."
Obama took aim at Trump during his speech, saying the Republican's policies are 'worse than even I expected'.
“It is not as if we didn’t see some of this coming," he said. "I will admit it is worse than even I expected, but I did warn you all. You can run the tape.
“Any by the way, he warned you too, because he said what he would do.
"But the fact is there were plenty of people who voted for Trump and Republicans anyway,” he continued. “And it wasn’t because they wanted to give up the right to free speech or see public health systems torn down, but because they were understandably frustrated with inflation and gas prices and the difficulty of affording a home and worries about their children’s future.”
Obama added in his scathing criticism: "We’ve got a president who deployed the National Guard in American cities and claimed to be stopping crime waves that don’t actually exist."