Obama Rallies Georgia Democrats Near Atlanta as Trump Campaigns in Ohio Before Midterms

Former President Barack Obama rallied with Georgia Democrats on Wednesday evening at the Discovery Center of Clayton County in Morrow, south of Atlanta, a week before the midterm elections. The Guardian reported that 3,500 to 4,000 people attended. Obama campaigned for Sen. Jon Ossoff, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is running for governor, and other down-ballot Democrats as part of a cross-country tour. He said Donald Trump and the Republican party "are not serious people" and that the country is paying the price. He also revisited his joke likening Trump's White House renovations to Saddam Hussein decorating a Cheesecake Factory, and said the White House mounted a government response to it. At the same time, President Trump was in Chillicothe, Ohio, trying to energize his base, as both parties sharpened their closing messages, according to the AP. Before the rally, the Georgia Republican Party launched a website highlighting what it called Ossoff's failures and ties to the Democratic Socialists of America.

The right-leaning Daily Signal leads with the Georgia GOP's website, describing Ossoff as popular among socialists while masking his record and how he represents Georgians. It mentions Obama's visit mainly as the occasion for that effort, and it does not describe the rally's crowd or Obama's remarks in the portion available. The left-leaning Guardian leads with the rally itself, featuring the crowd size, Obama's criticism of Trump and Republicans, and his Cheesecake Factory remarks, and notes that this sharper tone is unusual for a former president. The New York Times instead examines Bottoms, citing criticism of her leadership during Covid and disappointment that she left Atlanta's mayoralty after one term. Both sides agree Obama appeared with Ossoff and Bottoms in Morrow, but they differ on focus: the right on Ossoff's record and ideology, the left on Obama's message and Bottoms's record. The AP, an alternative source, frames it as paired Obama and Trump closing appeals in Georgia and Ohio.