Before midterms: Former US President Obama joins the election campaign with criticism of Trump

Prominent support for the Democrats: Former President Barack Obama joined the election campaign less than two weeks before the midterm elections in the USA. At appearances in Cleveland and Detroit, he attacked Republican President Donald Trump - and accused him of corruption, among other things.

The election is an emergency brake to curb "at least some of the madness" of the Trump presidency, Obama said at a rally for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. “We have never seen a president so blatantly enriching himself at your expense,” he shouted to the audience. The Republican Party now appears to "stand for a corrupt government, incompetent leadership or no government at all."

There was also ridicule for the renovation work in the White House. "He made the White House look like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory," Obama said.

Trump casts his vote early

Trump was asked about the issue of corruption by journalists when he cast his vote early in the elections. The “real corruption” exists among the opposition Democrats, said Trump and also repeated the false claim that he actually won the 2020 presidential election: “It was a rigged election, but I won by millions of votes.” Observers fear that if his Republicans lose in the midterms, Trump could again raise allegations of election fraud.

Trump came to vote at a polling station in West Palm Beach, Florida, with a “Voted” sticker on his lapel. Critics had accused the US President of having used postal voting himself in the past, even though he is actually against it. Trump wanted to significantly tighten the postal voting rules before the midterm elections - supposedly to combat voter fraud. Critics accuse him of weakening the Democratic electorate because they traditionally often vote by postal vote.

Elections on November 3rd

The elections will take place on November 3rd. All seats in the House of Representatives and some of the seats in the Senate will be reassigned. Trump's Republicans are struggling to defend their slim majorities there. The Democrats could make it much more difficult for the President to govern with a majority in one or both chambers of Congress.