Barack Obama launched a ferocious rebuke to Donald Trump’s America claiming it is stained by ‘ignorance, corruption and dishonesty’ at the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s funeral on Friday.
The former president was applauded and cheered as he told the congregation ‘we are living in a time when it can be hard to hope’ at the House of Hope on his old stomping ground on the South Side of Chicago.
Obama said: ‘Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency, everyday you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible.’
Trump has been criticized for his frequent attacks on federal judges across the country, and even the conservative Justices of the Supreme Court when they struck down his tariffs last month.
Obama continued: ‘Each day we’re told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others and that some don’t even count at all.’
The attack comes just weeks after Trump uploaded a video which depicted Obama and his wife Michelle as apes. The President claimed he was unaware of the clip which appeared at the end of a longer video about voter fraud.
Obama added: ‘Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength, we see science and expertise denigrated, while ignorance and dishonesty, and cruelty and corruption are are reaping untold rewards every single day.’
Democrats have claimed that Trump has pitted Americans against each other in his deadly immigration crackdown, during which two US citizens were shot dead in Minneapolis last month. Trump is also accused of enriching his own family and friends as his administration has blended politics with business, including international real estate deals in the Middle East and a luxury jet from Qatar.
Former President Barack Obama speaks during the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday
