‘Don’t Boo, Vote’: Obama Rebukes ‘Homegrown Demagogue’ Trump

President Barack Obama rebuked Republican Donald Trump as a candidate fueled by hate and resentment, one who doesn’t respect American values, and threatens the country’s standing with its allies abroad.

During his Democratic National Convention speech, Obama repeatedly drew parallels between Hillary Clinton’s achievements in an effort to highlight the hollowness of Trump’s ambition.

When the crowd started to boo over the first mention of the GOP nominee, Obama dusted off a tried-and-true line from his days on the campaign trail, telling the crowd, “Don’t boo, vote.”

The President said there’s more at stake this November than “the usual debates” between parties.

“This is a more fundamental choice – about who we are as a people, and whether we stay true to this great American experiment in self-government,” Obama said.

At the Republicans’ convention last week in Cleveland, Obama said, “There were no serious solutions to pressing problems – just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate. And that is not the America I know.”

Obama also contrasted Clinton as an experienced diplomat with the national security chops to serve as commander-in-chief with Trump’s campaign promises to sharply curtail Muslim immigration and use enhanced torture.

“Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls our military a disaster. Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known,” Obama said. “He suggests America is weak…He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, and tells the NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection.”

He continued: “America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments.”

After Trump’s convention speech last week cast the U.S. as a country under siege at home with falling stature abroad, Obama painted a significantly more optimistic portrait, saying that anyone “who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.”

Although Trump has repeatedly claimed that he alone can “make America great again,” the President emphasized that the country is a country made great by the sum of its parts, rather than any one leader.

“America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump,” he said. “Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled.”

This post has been updated.