--- title: Read Barack Obama's Full Speech on Trump and Democracy description: Barack Obama returned to the political arena with full force and called out Donald Trump by name. Read Obama's full speech transcript here canonical: https://time.com/5390568/obama-full-speech-transcript/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-07T20:23:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T07:53:37.062Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Is 'Capitalizing on Resentment.' Read Barack Obama's Full Speech on the State of U.S. Democracy og:description: Former President Barack Obama returned to the political arena with full force og:url: https://time.com/5390568/obama-full-speech-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf0ba6eb4333294e/698939bc929fad607fbf186b/obama-illinois-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Former President Obama Accepts The Paul H. Douglas Award For Ethics In Government At The University Of Illinois og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Is 'Capitalizing on Resentment.' Read Barack Obama's Full Speech on the State of U.S. Democracy twitter:description: Former President Barack Obama returned to the political arena with full force twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf0ba6eb4333294e/698939bc929fad607fbf186b/obama-illinois-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Is 'Capitalizing on Resentment.' Read Barack Obama's Full Speech on the State of U.S. Democracy > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=3ed93c4f-9539-4b84-ba60-fabd2d10422d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Obama Just Took on Trump Directly. And He's Just Getting Started [Watch (HLS stream): Obama Just Took on Trump Directly. And He's Just Getting Started](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/u2XapraI.m3u8) (5:27)  _Published 2018-09-07. Barack Obama’s post-presidential retreat into the private world seems to be over_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 7, 2018 8:23 PM UTC  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Sep 7, 2018 8:23 PM UTC Former [President Barack Obama returned to the political arena](http://time.com/5390184/barack-obama-midterm-elections-speech/) with full force on Friday, giving a speech reflecting on the partisan gridlock and upheaval that he believes has characterized the United States since President Donald Trump succeeded him in office over a year and a half ago. Obama delivered his speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government. In the remarks, which were a preview of the arguments he will [make on the campaign trail](http://time.com/5388161/barack-michelle-obama-midterms-democrats/), Obama denounced President Trump by name — the first time he has done so that explicitly since leaving the White House — and offered a broader critique of the direction he believes the country is heading in under the leadership of his successor. “Some of you may think I am exaggerating when I say these November elections are more important than any in our lifetime,” Obama said. “I have been guilty at saying this when I was on the ballot..but a glance at recent headlines should tell you this moment really is different.” The only way to combat this current state of democracy, he told his audience, was to get out and [vote in the midterm elections](http://time.com/5379463/midterm-elections-voter-roll-purging/). “As a fellow citizen, not as a President, but as a fellow citizen, I am here to deliver a message,” said Obama. “And that is— you need to vote because our democracy depends on it.” Read Obama’s full speech transcript below. --- > “” --- ## Transcript As a fellow citizen, not as an ex- President. But as a fellow citizen I am here to deliver a simple message. And that is that you need to vote because our democracy depends on it. Now some of you may think I'm exaggerating when I say these November's elections are more important than any I can remember in my lifetime I know politicians say that all the time. I have been guilty of saying it a few times particularly when I was on the ballot . >> [ LAUGHS ] >> But just a glance at recent headlines should tell you that this moment is really different. The stakes really are higher. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] The consequences of any of us sitting on the sidelines, [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Are more dire. Each time we've gotten closer to those ideals, [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Somebody somewhere has pushed back. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] The status quo pushes back. It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] He's just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years. Appealing to tribe. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Appealing to fear. Pitting one group against another, telling people that order and security WIll be restored, if it weren't for those who don't look like us, or don't sound like us, or don't pray like we do. That's an old playbook. It's as old as time. And in a healthy democracy it doesn't work. But when there's a vacuum in our democracy. When we don't vote, when we take our basic rights and freedoms for granted, when we turn away and stop paying attention, and stop engaging, and stop believing [ BLANK_AUDIO ] And look for the newest diversion, the electronic versions of bread and circuses. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Another voice is filled void. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] A politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment takes hold. And demagogues promise simple fixes to complex problems. But over the past few decades, the politics of division and resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home in the Republican party. None of this is Conservative. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I don't mean to pretend I'm channeling Abraham Lincoln now, but that's not what he had in mind, I think. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] When he helped form the republican party. It's not conservative. It sure isn't normal. It's radical. The claim that everything will turn out okay because there are people inside the White House who secretly aren't following the President's orders, that is not a check. I'm being serious here. That's now not how our democracy's supposed to work. [ APPLAUSE ] these people aren't elected. They're not accountable. They're not doing us a service by actively promoting 90 % of the crazy stuff that's coming out of this White House and then saying don't worry we're preventing the ohter 10 %. It shouldn't be Democratic or Republican to say that We don't threaten the freedom of the press because they say things or publish stories we don't like. [ APPLAUSE ] I complained plenty about Fox News. [ LAUGH ] But you never heard me threaten to shut them down. Or call them enemies of the people. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] It shouldn't be Democratic or Republican to say we don't target certain groups of people based on what they look like or how they pray. We are Americans, we're supposed to stand up to bullies. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] Not follow them. [ APPLAUSE ] We're supposed to stand up to discrimination. And we're sure as heck supposed to stand up clearly and unequivably to Nazi sympathizers. [ APPLAUSE ] [ APPLAUSE ] How hard can that be? Saying that Nazis are bad. One election will not fix everything that needs to be fixed. But it will be a start. And you have to start it. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]. What's gonna fix our democracy is you! ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5390568/obama-full-speech-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5390568/obama-full-speech-transcript/"},"headline":"Trump Is 'Capitalizing on Resentment.' 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