Barack Obama Warns Americans: You Must Vote — ‘Our Democracy Depends On It’

Barack Obama blasted Trump’s ‘abuses of power,’ refusal to speak against Nazis and more in a passionate speech imploring Americans to vote — ‘the stakes have never been higher.’

President Barack Obama has leapt off the sidelines, imploring Americans to not just “complain,” “hashtag,” or “get anxious,” but to vote in the November 6 midterms. “We have the chance … to restore some semblance of sanity to our politics,” Obama told an enraptured audience as he received an award for ethics in government. “People are tired of toxic corruption. Because there is actually only one real check on bad policy and abuses of power, and that’s you — you and your vote. You need to vote because our democracy depends on it … The biggest threat to our democracy is indifference.”

Obama’s time in the White House has ended, but he’s not giving up on the country. The former president gave a remarkable speech on September 7 at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, urging Americans to vote in the 2018 midterm elections, criticizing President Donald Trump, and asking an important question: why is it so hard for any of the people in his administration to say that Nazis are bad?

Obama specifically called out Trump by name, something he hadn’t done in any of his post-presidential speeches before. He acknowledged that the current discontent and anger in politics didn’t come from Trump himself — but he did use it to his advantage. “It did not start with Donald Trump, he is a symptom not the cause,” Obama said. “He’s just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years, a fear and anger that’s rooted in our past but also borne of the tremendous upheavals that have taken place.”

He also criticized the deepening partisanship in politics, the notion that people are voting for party over country, and how it’s harming the United States irreparably. “It shouldn’t be Democratic or Republican to say we don’t target groups of people on how they look like,” he said. “We’re supposed to stand up to bullies not follow them. How hard can it be to say that Nazis are bad?” Amen!

“We have the chance … to restore some semblance of sanity to our politics,” says former President Obama.

“Because there is actually only one real check on bad policy and abuses of power, and that’s you — you and your vote.” pic.twitter.com/NNky9wtGmw

— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 7, 2018

Voters watching his speech at home rallied behind the former president, praising him for speaking the truth about the sorry state of our federal government. “I’m screaming with joy in my living room. I miss Obama sooooooo much!!! @realDonaldTrump is going to be soooooooo f**king pissed!” @turntxblue18 tweeted. “Listening to Obama talk about compassion, decency and principles is both so restorative and so painful,” author Jessica Valenti tweeted. Others were entertained by Obama going OFF on Trump — and how enraged the president’s going to be when he turns on Fox News later and hears about this.

“I am hopeful because out of this political darkness, I am seeing a great awakening of citizenship all across the country. I can’t tell you how encouraged I have been by watching so many people getting involved for the first time or the first time in a long time,” Obama said toward the end of his speech.

Listen to him; get out there and vote! And if you’re not registered yet, it’s okay. You can register HERE on HollywoodLife.com. There’s no excuse not to get to the polls on November 6 for the midterms — now go make President Obama proud!