Comment Former President Barack Obama was on the campaign trail in Arizona when he was yelled at by a rioter in the crowd and quickly used it as a broader messaging opportunity about the country’s increasingly toxic political landscape. It came amid a pitch for Democrats Sen. Mark Kelly and Katie Hobbs, who will face Blake Masters (R) for senator and Kari Lake (R) for governor, respectively, in next week’s midterm elections. Republicans want ‘an economy that’s very good for the people at the top, but not always so good for ordinary people,’ Obama began telling the crowd of about 1,000 at a high school gymnasium in Phoenix on Wednesday. “Like you, Obama!” he was interrupted by a young, male fan. “Are you going to start yelling?” Obama responded, as the crowd erupted into loud cheers in an attempt to drown out the rioter. “Patience, patience, everybody,” Obama said. “Hey, young man, listen for a minute. You know you have to be nice and polite when people are talking, then other people are talking, and then you get a chance to talk.” “Make your own rally!” quipped the former president. “A lot of people worked hard on this. Come on dude.” Capitol Police cameras caught the break-in at Pelosi’s home, but no one was watching As the event began to resume, Obama urged the crowd to “settle down” and said the incident was similar to the noise that drowns out moderate voices in many political debates. “That’s part of what’s happening in our politics these days. We’re being distracted,” Obama said. “You have one person yelling and suddenly everyone is yelling. You get a tweet that’s stupid and suddenly everyone is obsessed with the tweet. We can’t stick it. We have to stay focused,” he said. He argued that if Republican candidates are successful in the critical state, “democracy as we know it may not survive in Arizona.” As he continued his speech, Obama spoke of the “peaceful transfer of power” he underwent with Donald Trump when the Democrats lost in 2016, in contrast to Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election to Joe Biden. “This is what America is supposed to be. Did we forget that?’ Obama said. He noted that he had spoken with his “friend” Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who was attacked last week at the couple’s San Francisco home. The attacker, identified as a man with extreme political views, shouted “Where’s Nancy?” upon arrival home. Discussing the attack, Obama criticized “this growing habit of demonizing political opponents, just shouting,” he told the crowd. While campaigning for Democratic candidates in Arizona on Nov. 2, former President Barack Obama warned of the dangers of Republican candidates refusing to vote. (Video: The Washington Post) Obama appeared to echo a speech made earlier in the day by President Biden, who, also speaking of Pelosi, said that “there is no place for voter intimidation or political violence in America, whether directed at Democrats or Republicans… “You can’t only love your country when you’re winning,” Biden said in his own speech at Washington’s Union Station, warning that candidates who refuse to accept next Tuesday’s results could put the nation on a “path to chaos”. Biden warns GOP could put nation on ‘road to chaos’ as democratic system faces pressure Millions of voters across the country have already voted or are planning to go to the polls on Election Day. Officials in Maricopa County, home to metro Phoenix and most of Arizona’s voters, say they are prepared for 250,000 to 350,000 people to vote in person on Tuesday. They predict between 1.4 and 1.9 million voters in total. The state’s early voting system has come under attack from some Republican activists who have spent the past few years suspicious of vote-by-mail and mail-in ballots used to return early ballots, fueling skepticism at campaign events and online about its readiness. county for large numbers of in-person voters. Some Arizona voters have complained of intimidation by unsolicited drop-box monitors — some of them armed — prompting a federal judge to set tough new limits. At a news conference on Wednesday, election officials warned that there could be lines at polling stations on Election Day, but said that should not be a sign of a failure to run the election properly, predicting that “possible narrative” amid growing tensions. Separately on Wednesday, a federal judge ordered a group that monitors Arizona polls for signs of fraud to stay at least 75 feet away from polls and publicly correct false statements its members have made about Arizona election laws. The ruling also prevents drop-box observers from taking photos or videos of voters and using the footage to spread unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud. Judge limits Arizona ballot tracking after allegations of intimidation Republican candidates in Arizona have embraced Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Lake, the GOP gubernatorial candidate, called anyone who believes Biden won by 81 million votes a “conspiracy theorist,” while Masters, the GOP Senate candidate, emphatically announced in an ad: “I think Trump won in 2020”. According to a recent Washington Post analysis, the majority of Republican candidates on the ballot for the House, Senate and key state offices — 291 in all — have denied or disputed the outcome of the last presidential election.
