Former President Obama criticized President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE in a highly anticipated speech on Friday for capitalizing on racial and economic resentments that he said had been fanned for years by politicians, stepping off the political sidelines and offering a rare criticism of the sitting president by name.

"It did not start with Donald Trump. He is a symptom, not the cause," Obama said of current political tensions during a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Obama mentions Trump by name!



"He's just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years, a fear and anger that's rooted in our past but it's also born out of the enormous upheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes." pic.twitter.com/fmoaPfCiHu — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 7, 2018

"He's just capitalizing on resentments politicians have been fanning for years," he continued. "A fear, an anger that’s rooted in our past, but it's also born of the upheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes."

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While Obama has occasionally delivered veiled criticisms of his successor since leaving office, he refrained for more than a year from taking on Trump by name.

Obama's speech on Friday called for a re-examination of American values and ideals.

“I’m here today because this is one of those pivotal moments when every one of us as citizens of the United States need to determine just who it is that we are, just what it is that we stand for,” Obama said.