Obama pulls no punches in savage two-word message for Democrats struggling to fight back against Trump
On Friday, Obama headlined a private fundraiser in New Jersey hosted by the state's current Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in support of the Democratic nominee of New Jersey governor, Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
CNN obtained excerpts of the former president's remarks.
'You know, don't tell me you're a Democrat, but you're kind of disappointed right now, so you're not doing anything,' Obama said. 'No, now is exactly the time that you get in there and do something.'
The ex-president complained about party members grumbling over there not being a defined leader of the party.
'I think it's going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions,' he said. 'And it's going to require Democrats to just toughen up.'
There are two off-year elections that Obama said Democrats should be focused on - the governors races in New Jersey and Virginia.
In past years, both races have been considered bellwethers - and if Democrats are successful they could give them momentum going into the midterms.
Obama called the races 'a big jumpstart for where we need to go.'
'Stop looking for the quick fix,' he told the crowd. 'Stop looking for the messiah.'
'You have great candidates running races right now. Support those candidates,' the ex-president said.
In New Jersey, Democrats nominated Sherrill, a 53-year-old former Navy officer and federal prosecutor, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, when Democratic candidates swept the House of Representatives in a rebuke of Trump's first term.
In the primary last month, New Jersey Republicans selected former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli to be there guy.
He was backed by Trump.
Ciattarelli unsuccessfully pursued the governorship in both 2017 and 2021 - losing the primary in 2017 and losing the general election to Murphy in 2021.
Murphy is term-limited so not pursuing re-election.
In Virginia, the state's voters will make history no matter what and elect their first female governor.
Democrats nominated former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, while Republicans nominated the state's current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, as the commonwealth's current GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin is term-limited.
'Make sure that the DNC has what it needs to compete in what will be a more data-driven, more social media-driven cycle, which will cost some money and expertise and time,' Obama advised on the two races.
More broadly, he encouraged Democrats to 'stand up for the things that you think are right.'
'Don't say that you care deeply about free speech and then you're quiet. No, you stand up for free speech when it's hard. When somebody says something that you don't like, but you still say, "You know what, that person has the right to speak." … What's needed now is courage,' Obama said.
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