DOMINANT ANGLE
Pretoria takes away from Barack Obama's departure a popularity test for the Democrats, ten days from an election that will decide control of a deeply divided Congress.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Obama campaigned Saturday for Democratic candidates in Cleveland (Ohio) and then in Michigan, ten days before the November 3 elections that will decide control of Congress.
- 02
He called the vote a "circuit breaker" to "bring some accountability to this government" and denounced an incompetence never seen "in modern times".
- 03
In Michigan, the Senate race pits Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers, a former House member.
ANALYSIS
Pretoria, October 25, 2026. The two South African titles that address the subject, TimesLIVE and Business Day, publish the same text, a dispatch pickup that also includes a message from Sky News dated October 24. Their angle is that of an American electoral joust, seen from afar and without connection to South Africa.
The text opens with a reversal: Donald Trump "repeated to voters to see the midterm elections as if he were himself on the ballot," and on Saturday, one of his Democratic predecessors did exactly that. Ten days before an election that will determine control of a "closely divided" Congress, Barack Obama went on the campaign trail to accuse the Republican president of corruption, mock his strategy towards Iran, and ridicule the golden aesthetic he has given to the White House renovations.
Obama campaigned for Democratic candidates during rallies in Ohio, in Cleveland, and then in Detroit. He said the Trump administration showed "incompetence, such as we have not seen in modern times." In Michigan, alongside Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, he presented the November 3 vote as a "circuit breaker," to "at least slow down some of the nonsense" of the Trump presidency. He added: "We need to flip this switch and bring a bit of accountability back to this government."
The two newspapers recall that Obama, president from 2009 until Trump's arrival in 2017, remains one of the most popular figures among Democrats. The party hopes his presence will mobilize his supporters in a tight Senate race, where El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers, a former House member. The former president, according to the text, played to the crowd on the criticisms that Democrats often repeat against Trump and against the complacency of Republicans towards him.
The text specifies that Sky News requested comment from the White House. In the excerpts provided, Donald Trump's response, his rallies, and the details of the war against Iran do not appear; the South African coverage is limited to Obama's speech and the stakes of the Congress.
