Obama Criticizes Trump, Urges Change at Midterm Election Rallies

: Former US president Barack Obama delivered scathing criticisms of his successor, Donald Trump, at rallies Saturday in Ohio and Michigan to support Democratic candidates ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Democrats are attempting to wrest back control of one or both chambers of the US Congress, which are currently controlled by Trump's Republican party. The former president retains considerable popularity among the Democratic base, which he is keen to leverage to support his Democratic Party's candidates. In both states, the 65-year-old former president blamed the Trump administration for the rising cost of living, a top voter concern amid soaring fuel prices. "The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions," Obama said in Ohio, where he rallied in support of former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown. "Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for." "After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in the modern era, you get a chance to say, 'Enough is enough,'" Obama declared in Cleveland. "We are voting for change right here in Ohio." Later, in Michigan, Obama campaigned for Abdul El-Sayed, from the party's left wing, who is in a close race with Republican Mike Rogers for the US Senate. "Imagine the power duo of Abdul and Elissa," Obama said, referring to the incumbent Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin, who is not up for election this year.