With the midterm elections just weeks away, former President Barack Obama is joining Democrats’ efforts to flip both the House and the Senate in November.
On Saturday, October 24, Obama made a pair of suprise appearances, first speaking at a rally in Cleveland, Ohio for Ohio gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton, and then at another rally in Detroit, Michigan.
During his Detroit speech, Obama detailed how the multiple missteps undertaken by the Trump campaign — ranging from attacking Iran to hitting international trading partners with tariffs paid by U.S. citizens — have made the cost of living infinitely more expensive.
O Canada
When discussing the administration’s tariffs, Obama singled out the economic attacks that Trump has made on America’s neighbor to the north.
“And the weirdest thing is, he’s the toughest when it comes to tariffs and trade wars, on that well-known evil empire: Canada,” Obama said of Trump.
“That historical adversary of ours,” Obama sarcastically joked of the British Commonwealth nation that had been one of America’s closest allies and its second-largest trading partner.
“Canada, it’s your neighbor,” Obama continued, eliciting cheers from the crowd in Detroit, which is situated across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ontario.
“It’s a few minutes’ drive over the bridge,” he added. “These are the people that gave us Martin Short and maple syrup. They are the nicest people — they’re so nice! And somehow we’ve gotten them so mad, because they’re just constantly being abused, and talked about, talking about annexing their country, making it a 51st state.”
Obama then pointed out that not only had Trump’s trade war fractured an alliance that had been intact for more than a century, it was also raising prices for Americans.
“Rather than these tariffs bringing down the deficits like he said it would, they’re driving up your prices, and now we are running a debt to the tune of $40 trillion,” he added.
Elbows Up
As Obama pointed out, Trump’s trade war and “51st state” rhetoric has infuriated Canadians, who’ve responded by embracing the “elbows up” boycott movement. Inspired by Canadian NHL legend Gordie Howe’s tendency to extend his raised elbows into offensive weapons during hockey games, many Canadians are boycotting American products and travel to the U.S., with several Canadian provinces pulling all American-made liquor off the shelves.
These measures have been having a negative impact on the U.S. economy, particularly when it’s come to tourism. According to a report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies, the U.S. Travel Association estimated that the decline in Canadian tourists cost the U.S. economy $5.7 billion during 2025 alone.
The damage has also been deep for American liquor distillers and winemakers. When comparing the period from March 2025 to 2026 to the same period in 2024′-25, Canada’s Global News found that Canadian imports of American-made alcohol had decreased by a staggering 81 percent, shrinking from approximately US$718 million to $137 million.
“We’re talking a total value from a U.S. exporter’s perspective of about a billion dollars Canadian that’s dropped to more like a couple of hundred million,” observed Karl Littler, senior vice-president of public affairs at the Retail Council of Canada. “So those are big numbers.”
Obama Mocks Trump’s Trade War with ‘Evil Empire’ Canada: ‘The People That Gave Us Martin Short and Maple Syrup’