Former Pres. Barack Obama struggled to maintain control of a Michigan audience on Saturday after a heckler disrupted his campaign address in support of Dem. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Obama visited MI as part of a last-minute attempt to mobilize his supporters behind vulnerable Democratic candidates around the country.
What the heckler yelled is unclear from the footage of Obama’s address, but it was enough to attract the ex-president’s attention.
“Come on,” Obama grumbled as he took a more than a two-minute break from his speech to confront the heckler.
“However, this is what I mean. This is exactly what I mean. I mean, we are having a conversation,” Obama replied as the audience chanted “Obama” repeatedly to drown out the heckler.
As security guards led the man out of the crowd, Obama lectured him about civility. Obama stated:
“I’m currently speaking. You’ll get an opportunity to speak soon. We don’t need to keep interrupting each other. We don’t have to shout each other down; that’s not a smart business practice. That would not be acceptable in the job. You wouldn’t just walk in on someone in the middle of a discussion. This isn’t how we do things.”
The heckler, on the other hand, so disrupted Obama’s address that it took many pleas from Obama to get the crowd’s attention back on him.
“So listen,” Obama continued, attempting to retake control of the audience. “No, no, no. Wait, wait, wait,” Obama said repeatedly.
“Calm down,” Obama urged the audience. To recapture the attention of the audience, he screamed, “Hold on a minute!”
While Obama tried to persuade Michigan voters to back Whitmer, Republican opponent Tudor Dixon believes the Dems’ efforts are “too little, too late.”
“They’re now bringing in Barack Obama. Kamala Harris was brought in. Joe Biden was brought in. Most people are fleeing Joe Biden; Gretchen Whitmer is welcoming him.” Dixon told Breitbart News, “It’s just binding her more to those extremist policies. They believe Barack Obama can restore this to her, and I believe it is too little, too late.”
Dixon also discussed how Whitmer’s school closures inspired suburban women around Michigan to vote against the incumbent.
“She’s now losing her base all over the state because her foundation is suburban women,” Dixon added. “‘Woah, woah, we missed our graduations,’ say suburban women. We didn’t go to prom. We were missing sports. Our children have ended up missing all of their milestones, and now you are trying to tell us it didn’t really happen?’ It’s ridiculous.”
Dixon also claimed that Whitmer is “gaslighting” Michigan residents by misrepresenting about how long schools were shut down during the outbreak.
