PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA VISITS DALLAS
President Barack Obama spent the day in Dallas for two Democratic fundraisers.
Obama’s first stop Saturday was at Gilley’s Dallas, several students from the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in East Oak Cliff will have a chance to meet the man their school is named for.
The president was brought on stage by former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who also served as Obama’s first U.S. trade representative.
He criticized the Republican race for president. Though he didn’t specify any names, a night after Donald Trump’s rally in Chicago was cancelled after it descended into chaos, Obama said political rallies should be an exchange of ideas.
“Certainly not violence against other Americans or excluding them,” he said. “We’re a better country than that.”
The president also said the Republican presidential race, which he compared to “a schoolyard fight” has set a bad example for children.
“We should be teaching them how to disagree without being disagreeable,” Obama said. “Teach them that politics at its best is a battle of ideas.”
After the event at Gilley’s the president was headed to a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser at a mansion on Strait Lane.
Democratic donor Naomi Aberly and Dallas lawyer Peter Kraus hosted the second event, which was attended by the president, Kirk, former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith, and President of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards.
In his remarks there, Obama stressed the importance of Democrats regaining control of the Senate, saying the aftermath of former Supreme Court Justice’s Antonin Scalia’s untimely death and “the behavior of the Senate” were evidence that Democrats needed to fight hard in the 2016 elections.
“Even today, in the midst of this wild political season, the American people continually underestimate the importance and the power the power of the Congress,” Obama said.
After the second event, President Obama went to Dallas National Golf Club, where he went golfing with Ron Kirk, Peter Kraus, and Emmitt Smith.
