2024 Presidential election updates: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris hold rally as 42 million Americans vote early

Former President Barack Obama participated in a Zoom call with the group Win With Black Men on Sunday.

The group, which raised $1.3 million in four hours for its grassroots platform for the Harris campaign, warned of the dangers of becoming complacent as Black men and the importance of staying engaged in politics.

“Throughout his career, Donald Trump has demonstrated complete disrespect and disregard for our communities, and especially black men,” Obama said.

Building on former First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign speech in Harris on Saturday, Obama said he did not believe the race was neck-and-neck.

“As my wife said yesterday, I’m sure some of you caught her speech in Kalamazoo. It shouldn’t be this close, because the candidates are not comparable. On one hand, you have someone like Donald Trump. Obama said, “The president of the United States is the president of the United States who has not shown the capacity to pass laws that will actually help ordinary people. “He underestimated large segments of people,” he said.

“On the other hand, we have Kamala Harris, who has shown at every turn that she is an advocate for ordinary people and is trying to give a voice to people in need,” Obama continued.

“Having consistently demonstrated excellence at every level, from district attorney to California attorney general to U.S. senator and now vice president, he is as qualified as any presidential candidate we have ever seen, and his message is directly relevant to the challenges we face as black men, the challenges facing our communities and America.” focuses,” Obama said of Harris.

Obama also debunked the idea that Trump is worth voting for because of the stimulus checks sent out during the pandemic.

“Well, during the pandemic, Trump sent us a check. You know what? First of all, it was Congress, Democrats and Republicans, who sent you a check, just like Joe Biden, working with Congress, sent you a check during the pandemic. Obama said, “Emergency relief, just like the Great Recession Just as I sent emergency aid to people when I first came to office; “The difference is that Joe Biden and I did not put our names on the check,” he said.

“So just because you got a check from Donald Trump, quote or unquote, during the pandemic, don’t think that’s some special thing he did and that justifies you voting for him,” Obama said.

-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim