‘People will get hurt’ if US politics does not change, warns Barack Obama
Obama was in Nevada to support candidates who are in extremely close races for the US Senate and governor ahead of the November 8 election
02 November 2022 - 14:30
byDaniel Trotta
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Former US president Barack Obama speaks during an early vote rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, on November 1 2022. Picture: BLOOMBERG/BRIDGET BENNETT
Democratic former US president Barack Obama warned on Tuesday that “more people are going to get hurt” unless the US political climate changes, after the husband of the speaker of the US House was attacked by a man wielding a hammer.
A man has been charged with breaking into the home of Nancy Pelosi on Friday and, in her absence, attacking her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, fracturing his skull and causing other injuries. The suspect pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and a host of other state charges.
Campaigning at a rally for Democratic candidates in Nevada, the former president said he had spoken to Paul Pelosi recently and “he's going to be OK”.
But Obama expressed grave concern about “this erosion of just basic civility and democratic norms”, in a country where supporters of Republican former president Donald Trump violently attacked the US Capitol in January 2021 in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
“This increasing habit of demonising political opponents creates a dangerous climate,” Obama said, faulting elected officials who fail to reject the violence, or make light of it and/or inflame the situation with heated rhetoric.
“If that's the environment that we create, more people are going to get hurt.”
Obama was in Las Vegas to lend his star power to candidates who are in extremely close races for the US Senate and for the governor role ahead of the November 8 election. He also backed candidates further down the ballot in races for the US Congress, state attorney-general and secretary of state.
The two-term president, who left office in 2017, remains the Democratic Party's most popular figure and has already made campaign stops in Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia.
The Obama tour will continue on Wednesday in Arizona and Saturday in Pennsylvania, two more states with tight races for governor and senator.
In Nevada, incumbent Democratic US Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is facing a fierce challenge from Republican Adam Laxalt, a former attorney-general who supported Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by fraud.
The Nevada race could determine which party controls the Senate, which is split 50-50 and in Democratic hands only because vice-president Kamala Harris can break any ties.
In the race for governor, Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak is locked in a close race with Republican challenger Joe Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
‘People will get hurt’ if US politics does not change, warns Barack Obama
Obama was in Nevada to support candidates who are in extremely close races for the US Senate and governor ahead of the November 8 election
Democratic former US president Barack Obama warned on Tuesday that “more people are going to get hurt” unless the US political climate changes, after the husband of the speaker of the US House was attacked by a man wielding a hammer.
A man has been charged with breaking into the home of Nancy Pelosi on Friday and, in her absence, attacking her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, fracturing his skull and causing other injuries. The suspect pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and a host of other state charges.
Campaigning at a rally for Democratic candidates in Nevada, the former president said he had spoken to Paul Pelosi recently and “he's going to be OK”.
But Obama expressed grave concern about “this erosion of just basic civility and democratic norms”, in a country where supporters of Republican former president Donald Trump violently attacked the US Capitol in January 2021 in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
“This increasing habit of demonising political opponents creates a dangerous climate,” Obama said, faulting elected officials who fail to reject the violence, or make light of it and/or inflame the situation with heated rhetoric.
“If that's the environment that we create, more people are going to get hurt.”
Obama was in Las Vegas to lend his star power to candidates who are in extremely close races for the US Senate and for the governor role ahead of the November 8 election. He also backed candidates further down the ballot in races for the US Congress, state attorney-general and secretary of state.
The two-term president, who left office in 2017, remains the Democratic Party's most popular figure and has already made campaign stops in Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia.
The Obama tour will continue on Wednesday in Arizona and Saturday in Pennsylvania, two more states with tight races for governor and senator.
In Nevada, incumbent Democratic US Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is facing a fierce challenge from Republican Adam Laxalt, a former attorney-general who supported Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by fraud.
The Nevada race could determine which party controls the Senate, which is split 50-50 and in Democratic hands only because vice-president Kamala Harris can break any ties.
In the race for governor, Democratic incumbent Steve Sisolak is locked in a close race with Republican challenger Joe Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff.
Reuters
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