Former President Obama on Friday lamented the state of politics today, calling out his successor, Donald Trump, by name as he started his push to ramp up Democratic energy for midterms.

Mr. Obama made his return to the political arena by giving a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after receiving the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government.

He praised America’s accomplishments but said there is a darker side to progress when politicians peddle resentment and mistrust to preserve the status quo.

“It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause,” Mr. Obama said. “He’s just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years.”

He also took a jab at Mr. Trump’s emphasis on the economy, telling the audience to “remember when that recovery started.”

The former president explained he planned on following the precedent set by George Washington “to gracefully exit” the political stage, but speaks now as a citizen.

“As a fellow citizen, not as an ex-president, but as a fellow citizen I’m here to deliver a simple message and that is: you need to vote because our democracy depends on it,” he told students.





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