President Obama spoke today before a union rally in Milwaukee to announce a $50 billion initiative to improve American infrastructure, and used the opportunity to paint his administration as a fighter of special interests like Wall Street bankers.
He said rebuilding the American middle class on stronger foundations, like better education, has required “taking on some powerful interests.”
“Some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time. And they’re not always happy with me. They talk about me like a dog,” he said, to cheers. “That’s not in my prepared remarks, but it’s true.”
“That’s why we passed financial reform. To provide new accountability and tough oversight of Wall Street,” he went on, naming Wall Street and credit card companies as two of the “powerful interests” in Washington.
Watch:
Obama spent much of the speech attacking Republicans, calling them the party of “No we can’t.” You can read his full prepared remarks here.