Former President Barack Obama struggled to control a Michigan crowd after a heckler interrupted his campaign speech in support of Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Saturday.
Obama traveled to Michigan as part of a last-minute effort to rally his base around vulnerable Democrat candidates across the country.
It is unclear from the video of Obamaās speech what the heckler said, but it was enough to get the former presidentās attention.
āCome on,ā Obama complained as he paused his speech for more than two minutes to address the heckler.
Obama trying to get the crowd to pay attention to him after getting heckled reminds me of a student teacher trying to control a classroom š pic.twitter.com/4lu3eB4IzJ
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 29, 2022
āBut this is what I mean. This is what I mean. I mean weāre having a conversation,ā Obama said as the crowd attempted to drown out the heckler by chanting āObamaā repeatedly.
Obama then lectured the man on civility as security guards escorted him out of the rally. Obama said:
Right now, Iām talking. Youāll have a chance to talk sometime soon. We donāt have to interrupt each other. We donāt have to shout each other down, thatās not a good way to do business. You wouldnāt do that in workplaces. You wouldnāt just interrupt people in the middle of a conversation. Itās not how we do things.
However, the heckler disrupted Obamaās speech so much that it took several pleas from Obama before the crowd focused their attention back on him.
āSo listen,ā Obama said in an attempt to regain control of the crowd. āNo, no, no no. Wait, wait, wait,ā Obama repeatedly said.
āQuiet down,ā Obama told the crowd. At one point, he shouted, āHold on a minute,ā at the crowd to regain their attention.
While Obama attempted to sway Michigan voters into supporting Whitmer, Republican challenger Tudor Dixon thinks the Democratsā efforts are ātoo little, too late.
āNow theyāre bringing in Barack Obama. They brought in Kamala Harris. They brought in Joe Biden. Most people are running from Joe Biden; Gretchen Whitmer is bringing him in. Itās just marrying her more to those radical policies,ā Dixon told Breitbart News. āThey believe that Barack Obama can bring this back to her, and I think itās too little, too late.ā
Dixon also spoke about how Whitmerās school closures galvanized suburban women across Michigan to vote against the incumbent.
āNow sheās losing her base across the state because her base is suburban women,ā Dixon said. āSuburban women are saying, āWoah, woah, we missed graduations. We missed proms. We missed sports. Our kids missed all of their milestones, and now youāre telling us it didnāt happen?ā Itās outrageous.ā
Dixon also said Whitmer is āgaslightingā Michiganders by lying about how long schools were closed during the pandemic.
āSo this idea that they werenāt shut down is just completely false. And people are not going to take this. This gaslighting, āOh, you actually werenāt shut down,āā Dixon said.
Obama, who campaigned in Georgia on Friday on behalf of Sen. Raphael Warnock, will travel to Nevada on Tuesday and then Pennsylvania on November 5.
Story cited here.