The Latest: Obama rallies Democrats, Pence disappointed

(AP) — The Latest on former President Barack Obama (all times local):

6:05 p.m.

Vice President Mike Pence says it’s disappointing that former President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail criticizing President Donald Trump.

Says Pence: “The truth is, the American people in 2016 rejected the policy and direction of Barack Obama when they elected President Donald Trump.”

Pence comments in a taped interview set to air on “Fox News Sunday.” Fox released an excerpt on Saturday.

Obama campaigned for congressional Democrats from California on Saturday, a day after he excoriated Trump in a speech in Illinois.

Pence said it’s “very disappointing” to see Obama break with the tradition of former presidents, who largely shun the campaign trail, and “become so political.”

Pence says Obama rolled out “the same tired arguments that he and liberals have made over the last eight years.”

2:15 p.m.

Former President Barack Obama says November midterm elections give Americans “a chance to restore some sanity in our politics.”

Appearing in Southern California on Saturday, the former president took another swipe at his successor as he raised his profile campaigning for fellow Democrats to regain control of the House. Obama didn’t mention President Donald Trump by name during a 20-minute speech in the key Southern California battleground of Orange County.

Obama’s appearance comes one day after a strongly worded critique of Trump at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In California, the former president touched on themes of retirement security, climate change and education.

He told the audience at the Anaheim Convention Center, “If we don’t step up, things can get worse.”

12:55 p.m.

Former President Barack Obama says the midterm elections in November will give Americans the chance to — in his words — “restore some sanity in our politics” by changing control of Congress.

He’s in California trying to help out a group of congressional candidates. And Obama tells the crowd in Anaheim that “we’re all in this together and that what makes America exceptional and unique is that from all around the world people … came here because they believed in a certain set of ideals.”

12:40 p.m.

Barack Obama has made a political appearance in California on behalf of Democratic congressional candidates he says have “decided to step up and bring out the best in our country.”

The former president says “we’re in a challenging moment” when enormous changes are taking place. He says ’people feel unsettled, people feel scared,” and they’re worried about their children’s future.

Obama says there are no problems that can’t be solved if “we’re working together and we’re true to the traditions that are the best in America.” But he’s also warning that it’s “always tempting for politicians — for their own gain and for people in power — to try to see if they can divide people, scapegoat folks.”

When that happens, he says, people become cynical and decide not to participate in the political process — creating a vacuum that lobbyists and special interests fill.

8:15 a.m.

Former President Barack Obama is in California to campaign for Democratic congressional candidates one day after issuing a stinging rebuke of his successor in the White House.

Obama is set to appear later Saturday at the Anaheim Convention Center in the heart of Orange County, a once-solid Republican stronghold that voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election that Donald Trump won.

Obama will share the billing with seven Democratic candidates in competitive U.S. House districts across California. Those races are considered crucial to the party’s efforts to retake control of the House from Republican. Four of those districts are at least partly in Orange County.

Obama issued a scorching critique of President Donald Trump on Friday in a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.