Obama Swipes GOP 2016 Field: ‘We’ve Been Walking the Walk’ on Middle Class Economics
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Pete Souza / The White House(WASHINGTON) — President Obama delivered a rallying cry to Democrats at their winter meeting Friday morning, urging their unabashed embrace of his economic record as the party heads into the 2016 campaign.
“We were told by our good friends the Republicans that our actions would crush jobs, explode the deficits and destroy the country. I mean, I want everybody to do a fact check,” Obama told the crowd.
“If we were to look at the evidence, it’s pretty clear whose theory works,” he said.
The president directly addressed the field of likely GOP contenders — including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, by name — who have adopted economic inequality as an issue for the campaign.
“You can’t just talk the talk. You’ve got to do what? You’ve got to walk the walk,” Obama said. “We’ve been walking the walk.”
As for Republicans, he said, “the shift in rhetoric is good if it leads them to engage in different actions. If it doesn’t, then it’s just spin.”
There was no mention or obvious reference to the controversy surrounding former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s comments about Obama’s patriotism. But the president did offer a spirited close to his address, referring to “this great country’s amazing story” and a full-throated “God bless, America.”
After the speech, Obama is attending his second fundraiser of the year — a $33,400 per head event that’s expected to raise north of $835,000 for the Democratic National Committee.
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