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For most of Donald Trump’s time as president of the United States of America, former President Barack Obama has bitten his tongue.

There have been some attacks, and some thinly-veiled barbs directed Trump’s way, but nothing quite like what Donnie fires off on Twitter almost daily, railing against the past for his current failings.

That changed on the third night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), with Obama delivering a scathing assessment of the White House’s current incumbent.

Deadline called his remarks “unusual and even unprecedented in their criticism of a presidential successor”, and PBS called it “strikingly blunt”, saying it “revealed the 44th president’s personal disregard for the nation’s current commander in chief and his belief that Trump presents an existential threat to American democracy”.

The speech comes in at 19 minutes long, and here’s your chance to watch that in full:

If you’d prefer to speed read through the transcript, pop in here.

Here are some of the standout quotes, via Deadline:

“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t,” Obama said in his speech. “And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.”

It’s now at least 176 342 dead from COVID-19.

Back to Obama:

Standing in front of an exhibit on the U.S. Constitution, Obama said, “I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.”

Obama added, “But he never did. For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.”

Donnie was watching at home, and he wasn’t impressed, as you can tell from the ALL CAPS TWEETS, WHICH HE SAVES FOR WHEN HE’S REALLY, REALLY MAD:

WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020

HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020

It doesn’t matter how often or loudly you say it, it won’t make it true.

As for that recently released Senate report – here’s the Washington Post:

An exhaustive investigation led by members of President Trump’s own political party portrays his 2016 campaign as posing counterintelligence risks through its myriad contacts with Russia, eager to exploit assistance from the Kremlin and seemingly determined to conceal the full extent of its conduct from a multiyear Senate probe…

Like the Mueller report before it, the nearly 1,000-page Senate document does not explicitly accuse the Trump campaign of direct collusion with Russian intelligence. But the Senate report carries particular weight because it is the first major investigation of Russian interference in 2016 to be conducted by a Republican-controlled committee and endorsed by both Republicans and Democrats.

The report’s language is often stark, describing Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s receptivity to Russian outreach as a “grave counterintelligence threat” that made the campaign susceptible to “malign Russian influence.”

Read more from that report here.

Obama’s certainly right in saying that the US is voting on its future come November 3. If the elections are free and fair, and the US Postal Service isn’t wrecked beyond repair before then, it could be a tough road to reelection for Trump.

They may have to drag the current president out kicking and screaming, though.

[sources:deadline&pbs]