Former President Barack Obama issued a new message this week asking young people across America to vote for Joe Biden. The message was a part of a “Pull Up & Vote Party” hosted by the media outlet Complex. In his remarks, Obama acknowledged that voting has its limits — but he also noted that the kind of change that so many people want to see outside of Election Day can’t happen without voting. A Joe Biden presidency may provide the opportunity to advocate for important developments to bring the country forward. Four more years of Donald Trump would likely entail desperate work to protect the basic institutions of the American democratic process that Trump’s team systematically attacks.
As Obama put it on Twitter:
‘One of the most inspiring things about this year has been seeing so many young people organizing, marching, and fighting for change. And to change the game on any of the issues we care about, we’ve got to vote for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Participate and vote. It’s not always pretty – trust me, I know. But it’s how, bit by bit, we’ve made progress over generations. Go to http://iwillvote.com/obama to make your plan, then get some friends to join you. Let’s go.’
Watch Obama’s comments below:
Participate and vote. It’s not always pretty – trust me, I know. But it’s how, bit by bit, we’ve made progress over generations. Go to https://t.co/Q2RbOQZwv9 to make your plan, then get some friends to join you. Let’s go.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 21, 2020
Obama has been campaigning for Biden for months, and Biden has been rather steadily gaining. In recent national-level polls, he has repeatedly led by double-digits, which puts him well within the range needed for a resounding victory. With less than two weeks until Election Day, there’s not exactly much time for a race-changing development — and besides, tens of millions of people have already voted. Across the country as a whole, almost 40 million Americans have already cast their ballots as of early Wednesday morning. Early turnout has been huge in critical swing states like Florida, where over 3.6 million people have already voted by mail and during early in-person voting.
Why would a majority of Americans want to re-elect Donald Trump, anyway? He has wrecked the country. His response to the Coronavirus pandemic has been a disaster, with repeated failures on the part of the federal government to provide the resources and support that local communities have needed. He’s also failed to meaningfully address nationwide outcries against police violence and institutional racism, repeatedly preferring to threaten violence against protesters.
Check out Twitter’s response to Obama below:
