President Obama rips into Trump: 'The Donald is not a facts guy'

POTUS didn't hold back.
 By 
Tim Chester
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Joe Biden and Tim Kaine didn't hold back on Trump during their speeches at the Democratic convention Wednesday night, but it turned out they were just the opening acts for Obama's full-blown takedown of The Donald.

During the first half of his speech, which closed proceedings on the third night in Philadelphia, Obama landed several blows squarely on the Republican nominee.

While his words were peppered with oblique references to Trump, from quips about the birth certificate malarkey to lines like "demagogues will always fail in the end," it was when he invoked the candidate by name that he did his most damage.


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Trump has yet to tweet his response, but his campaign was quick to issue a statement branding the convention speeches as "the politics of fear."

Here a few of Obama's strongest takedowns.

“The Donald is not really a plans guy. He’s not really a facts guy either.”

Obama continued with a couple of attacks that questioned Trump's characterization of both his achievements and his promises.

[Trump] calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved success without leaving a trail of lawsuits, and unpaid workers, and people feeling like they got cheated ... Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?

"America is already great. America is already strong ... our greatness does not depend on Donald Trump."

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear."

Obama focused in on Trump's soundbites and "fear-mongering."

Ronald Reagan called America "a shining city on a hill. Donald Trump calls it "a divided crime scene" that only he can fix. It doesn’t matter to him that illegal immigration and the crime rate are as low as they’ve been in decades, because he’s not offering any real solutions to those issues. He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear. He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election. That is another bet that Donald Trump will lose. And the reason he’ll lose it is because he’s selling the American people short.

"Donald Trump calls our military a disaster. Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known."

Turning to national security and foreign policy, Obama dismissed Trump's comments on the military and America's reputation abroad.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls our military a disaster. Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known. He suggests America is weak. He must not hear the billions of men, women, and children, from the Baltics to Burma, who still look to America to be the light of freedom, dignity, and human rights. He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, and tells the NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection. Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments. And that’s one reason why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago.

Of course, the president spent much time extolling the virtues of Hillary Clinton too.

His speech's key message boiled down to three words, however, delivered in the face of mass booing at Trump's name: "Don't boo, vote."

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Tim Chester

Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.

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