Anaheim, California (CNN) Former President Barack Obama, a day after delivering a stinging critique of President Donald Trump's years in office, will headline his first rally of the 2018 midterm elections on Saturday, stumping with seven Democrats looking to turn their congressional districts blue in November. The event, a 750-person rally for seven Democrats running in districts Hillary Clinton won in 2016 but which are represented by the Republicans in the House, will officially end Obama's absence from the campaign trail, a months-long absence that has angered some Democrats who believe he is not engaging in a political fight where he could be helpful. Obama's rally at the Anaheim Convention Center will benefit Josh Harder (CA-10), TJ Cox (CA-21), Katie Hill (CA-25), Gil Cisneros (CA-39), Katie Porter (CA-45), Harley Rouda (CA-48), and Mike Levin (CA-49), all candidates backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the group organizing the rally. Obama aides tell CNN that his message on Saturday will be similar to the lengthy and direct indictment he delivered on Friday in Illinois, where the former President reentered the political fray by attacking Trump, slamming him for "capitalizing on resentment that politicians have been fanning for years." The speech was a break from tradition -- one where former commanders-in-chief don't criticize their successors -- but Obama argued that Trump's presidency represented "one of those pivotal moments when every one of us, as citizens of the United States, need to determine just who it is that we are, just what it is that we stand for."

Source: CNN September 08, 2018 14:03 UTC