Former President Obama said Thursday that parts of the current political landscape harken back to the division of centuries ago.

Obama was in New Jersey to stump for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy. It was Obama's first visit to the political stage since the 2016 election.

“What we can’t have is the same old politics of division that we have seen so many times before that dates back centuries,” the former president said.

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He implied that some people in power are embracing outdated mindsets when crafting policy.

“Some of the politics we see now, we thought we put that to bed,” Obama said. “That’s folks looking 50 years back. It’s the 21st century, not the 19th century.”

Obama returned to the spotlight alongside Murphy, his former ambassador to Germany, who currently leads in the polls against Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R).

Obama will also travel to Virginia on Thursday night to campaign for Democratic candidate for governor Ralph Northam.