克利夫兰 —— 前总统巴拉克·奥巴马周六在此举行了为今年秋季中期选举助选的首场集会，将唐纳德·特朗普总统描述为“混乱与残酷”的代理人，以及一个言而无信的人。在对这位共和党继任者进行一番尤为尖锐的批评时，奥巴马嘲笑特朗普在白宫进行舞厅建设，并到处添加金色装饰。
CLEVELAND — Former President Barack Obama, appearing here Saturday at his first campaign rally for this fall’s midterm elections, characterized President Donald Trump as an agent of “chaos and cruelty” and a man of broken promises. And in a particularly pointed criticism of his Republican successor, Obama mocked Trump’s ballroom construction and the gold accents he has added throughout the White House.
“有人真觉得现在住在白宫的这位整天都在思考这些问题吗？”奥巴马反问道。“我是说，我不知道你们有没有注意到，但他似乎非常专注于家庭装修。他应该去上HGTV（家庭与园艺电视台）。”片刻后，奥巴马补充道：“他把白宫弄得像萨达姆·侯赛因开了一家芝士蛋糕工厂。”
“Does anybody really think this guy in the White House right now is spending all that time thinking about these issues?”Obama wondered. “I mean, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV.”Obama added a moment later: “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
坐满了逾10,000个座位的公共礼堂内，观众对奥巴马下午演讲中这一笑料及其他妙语哄堂大笑。
The crowd inside a near-capacity Public Auditorium, which holds more than 10,000, erupted with laughter at that and other quips Obama offered throughout his afternoon address.
此行旨在助选两位民主党人：该党的州长提名人艾米·阿克顿，以及前参议员谢罗德·布朗，后者正在为夺回原本的参议员席位发起反击。自特朗普崛起以来，俄亥俄州已变得更加可靠地支持共和党，但今年已成为激烈的战场。民调显示，这两场竞选均势胶着，民主党尤其渴望20年来首次赢得州长职位。
The former president’s visit was aimed at boosting two Democrats: Amy Acton, the party’s nominee for governor, and former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has mounted a comeback bid for his old job. Ohio, which has become more reliably Republican since Trump’s rise in politics, has emerged as an intense battleground this year. Polls show both races are toss-ups, with Democrats especially hopeful of winning the governorship for the first time in 20 years.
“中期选举的胜利之路要经过俄亥俄州，”众议员肖恩特尔·布朗在热场时说道，她是民主党人，其选区包含克利夫兰的大部分地区。特朗普在最近几周内已在该州举行过两次集会，重点助选布朗的共和党对手、参议员乔恩·休斯特德。特朗普下周将回到奇利科西举行活动，该市规模较小、以工人阶级为主，曾是俄亥俄州的第一个州府。
“This midterm election victory runs through Ohio,” Rep. Shontel Brown, a Democrat whose district includes a large part of Cleveland, said as she warmed up the crowd. Trump has rallied in the state twice in recent weeks, with a pitch primarily focused on Brown’s Republican rival, Sen. Jon Husted. Trump will return next week for an event in Chillicothe, a smaller, working-class city that served as Ohio’s first state capital.
与此同时，共和党州长候选人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米（Vivek Ramaswamy）本周决定播放一则爆炸性攻击广告，其中出现了阿克顿（Acton）疏远的母亲称她为“骗子”，这让州长竞选受到震动。该广告因利用一个家庭关于涉嫌性虐待的痛苦历史，招致了迅速且跨党派的谴责。奥巴马在周六的演讲中对该攻击尤为严厉地抨击。
Meanwhile, the race for governor was jolted this week by the decision by Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican candidate for governor, to air an explosive attack ad that features Acton’s estranged mother calling her a “liar.”The ad was met with swift and bipartisan condemnation for drawing on a family’s painful history of alleged sexual abuse. Obama was particularly scornful of the attack in his speech Saturday.
“我们都认识那种人——就是那种，怎么说呢，特别‘渴’（thirsty，渴望出风头）的人，”奥巴马谈到拉马斯瓦米时说。“只想不择手段地博取关注，愿意干任何事。最近几天我们看到，没有什么底线是他不敢跨越的。”他补充道：“我不知道是怎么回事，行为标准怎么降得这么低，竟然有人能播这种广告。”阿克顿在集会发言中也简要提及了这场争议，感谢支持者“最近几天给予的关爱”。
“We all know that guy — who is, like, thirsty,” Obama said of Ramaswamy. “Just wants to get attention no matter what, willing to do anything. And in recent days we’ve seen there is no line he won’t cross.”He added: “I don’t know what’s happened where the standards of behavior have gotten so low that somebody can run an ad like that.”Acton also briefly touched on the controversy in her remarks at the rally, thanking supporters for “the love you have shown” in recent days.
“我的对手，”她指的是拉马斯瓦米，“选择故意利用我的童年经历来挽救他陷入困境的竞选活动，但这不会奏效。”在拉马斯瓦米竞选团队的广告中，唐娜·阿瑟（Donna Arthur）称女儿为骗子，并敦促俄亥俄州选民不要投票给她。阿克顿表示，近50年来她未曾见过或与阿瑟交谈过。多年来以及整个竞选期间，阿克顿也曾谈到自己小时候曾遭阿瑟当时的丈夫性虐待。
“My opponent,” she said, referring to Ramaswamy, “has chosen to exploit, intentionally, my childhood to save his struggling campaign, but it’s not going to work.”In the Ramaswamy campaign’s ad, Donna Arthur calls her daughter a liar and urges Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton has said she has not seen or talked to Arthur in nearly 50 years. Over the years and throughout her campaign, Acton has also talked about having been sexually abused by Arthur’s then-husband as a child.
她说，1978年，在继父被控强奸后，她被从阿瑟的监护下带走。拉马斯瓦米为该广告进行了辩护，其竞选团队周四告诉美国全国广播公司新闻部（NBC News），计划投入400万美元播放该广告。特朗普也表示了赞同。奥巴马对布朗（Brown）也有好评，并戏称他节俭。“20年前我见到他时穿的那套西装，他现在还在穿，”奥巴马谈到布朗时说，后者以衣着邋遢著称。
She has said she was removed from Arthur’s custody in 1978, after her then-stepfather was charged with rape. Ramaswamy has defended the ad, and his campaign on Thursday told NBC News that it planned a $4 million push to air it. Trump has expressed his approval, as well. Obama also had kind words for Brown, whom he playfully described as frugal. “He still is wearing the same suit he was in when I met him 20 years ago,” Obama said of Brown, who has a reputation for keeping a rumpled appearance.
“你知道他为这次集会理了发，但你们都知道他太抠门了，几个月才舍得理一次发。”奥巴马接着说，“布朗不是那种假装为打工人着想的人。他始终站在你们这边，哪怕很难，哪怕可能输掉选举。”在2024年失去参议员席位前，布朗在公职岗位上干了近50年。他在演讲中指出，“腐败渗透进了华盛顿的方方面面”。“本该为你们服务的政客们却在捞钱，”布朗说，“在任时玩股市，离任后当游说人。”
“You know he got a haircut for this rally, but you all know he’s too cheap to get a haircut more than once every couple months.”Brown, Obama added, “is not somebody pretending to look out for working folks. He has always been there for you, even when it’s hard, even when he might lose an election.”Brown, who spent nearly 50 years in public office before losing his Senate seat in 2024, argued in his speech that “corruption is woven into everything” in Washington. “Politicians who are supposed to be working for you are cashing in,” Brown said. “When they’re in office they play the stock market, and when they leave they become lobbyists.”
当布朗把哈斯特德和埃隆·马斯克、特朗普等亿万富翁联系在一起时，人群爆发出“把他关起来！”的呼喊声。这一幕让人联想到2016年特朗普竞选期间，针对希拉里·克林顿的“把她关起来！”呼声。
When Brown linked Husted with billionaires like Elon Musk and Trump, the crowds burst out into chants of “Lock him up!”The moment called back to the “Lock her up!” chants that rang out at Trump rallies when he campaigned against Hillary Clinton in 2016.
与此同时，奥巴马与民主党人同台也引来共和党对手的反击。“俄亥俄人承担不起一个自由派州长，他只为奥巴马露面，从不为俄亥俄人露面，”拉马斯瓦米发言人康妮·拉克说。“看到谢罗德·布朗和巴拉克·奥巴马再次走到一起，应该让俄亥俄人脊背发凉，”哈斯特德发言人艾米·纳托切说，“布朗-奥巴马组合给我们带来了更高的税收、更少的就业岗位和大敞四开的边境。”
Meanwhile, Obama’s appearance alongside the Democrats drew rejoinders from their Republican opponents. “Ohioans can’t afford a liberal governor who shows up for Obama but never shows up for them,” said Ramaswamy spokesperson Connie Luck. “The sight of Sherrod Brown and Barack Obama together again should send shivers down Ohioans’ spines,” Amy Natoce, a spokesperson for Husted, said. “The Brown-Obama duo gave us higher taxes, less jobs and wide open borders.”
奥巴马将其35分钟演讲的大篇幅留给了特朗普。“两年前，很多人不喜欢这家伙的为人，但他们对新冠疫情后的通胀感到沮丧，”奥巴马说，“他们眼看着物价上涨，听他许下一堆承诺要控制成本。”特朗普敦促选民在今年的中期选举中像他本人在选票上一样行事，奥巴马则建议他们通过考量特朗普是否兑现了2024年的承诺来评判共和党候选人。
Obama kept much of his 35-minute speech focused on Trump. “Now, two years ago, there were a lot of people who weren’t crazy about the guy’s character, but they were frustrated about post-Covid inflation,” Obama said. “They were seeing prices go up, and they heard him make a bunch of promises to get costs under control.”While Trump has urged voters in this year’s midterm elections to act as if he is on the ballot, Obama suggested they should evaluate Republican candidates by considering whether Trump has lived up to his promises of 2024.
他专门点名批评了特朗普的关税政策和与伊朗的战争，这两者都推高了物价。“在这种情况下，现任政府的行动直接导致了成本上升，”奥巴马说。“现任总统选择做出了一系列糟糕的决定。最重要的是，他决定发动一场没人要求、没人投票支持的不必要战争。”奥巴马定于周六晚些时候在密歇根州与该州民主党州长候选人乔斯林·本森和联邦参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德一同竞选助选。
He specifically singled out for criticism Trump’s tariffs and the war with Iran, both of which have driven up prices. “In this case, this administration’s actions are directly responsible for rising costs,” Obama said. “The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions. Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for, nobody voted for.”Obama is scheduled to campaign later Saturday in Michigan with Jocelyn Benson and Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidates for governor and Senate there.
据其办公室透露，他今秋将重点关注那些他认为能够激发民主党选民和可争取选民热情的选战，重点关注俄亥俄州和密歇根州等备受瞩目的竞争激烈的选战。下周，奥巴马计划前往亚特兰大，与联邦参议员乔恩·奥索夫以及佐治亚州民主党州长候选人凯莎·兰斯·博托姆斯一同助选。据其办公室称，这位前总统——通过由民主党委员会协调的活动、电子邮件和邮寄材料——还为中期选举筹集了超过1500万美元。
He is focusing this fall on races where he believes he can motivate Democrats and persuadable voters, with an emphasis on closely watched contests like those in Ohio and Michigan, according to his office. Next week, Obama is scheduled to visit Atlanta, where he will campaign alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic candidate for governor in Georgia. The former president — through events, emails and mailings coordinated by Democratic committees — also has helped raise more than $15 million for midterm races, his office said.
他已录制了二十多个电视和广播广告，预计大选日前还将推出更多。在当天的演讲中，奥巴马将这次选举描述为一个潜在的“拐点”和“纠偏时刻”。“在经历了两年的混乱、残酷、腐败和无能——这是现代以来从未见过的——之后，”奥巴马说，“你们有机会说：‘够了。我们要在这里、在俄亥俄州实现改变。’”
He has recorded more than two dozen TV and radio spots, and more are expected before Election Day. In his speech here, Obama described the election as a potential “inflection point” and “course correction.”“After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in modern times,” Obama said, “you get the chance to say, ‘Enough’s enough. We are going to change right here in Ohio.’”