NEWARK, NJ — Former President Barack Obama delivered a fierce rebuke of President Trump, accusing him of taking the country into a “dark place” while joining a squad of Democratic heavy hitters in trying to give Rep. Mikie Sherrill a last-minute boost in her tightening New Jersey gubernatorial race.

Serving as the election closer for Sherrill (D-NJ) as his party grapples with a national leadership void, Obama framed the contest as a critical battle against Trump and made little mention of her rival.

“Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,” Obama grumbled, with his voice turning hoarse at times. 

“It’s hard to know where to start because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and meanspiritedness and just plain old craziness,” he added, regurgitating much of the speech he delivered for Sherrill’s old roommate, Democratic Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Abigail Spanberger, earlier in the day.

Obama rattled off a list of grievances against Trump, railing against his crypto side hustles, destruction of the East Wing, ordering of mass Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids across the country, promotion of “quack medicine,” firing of a Bureau of Labor Statistics boss, and more. 

“It’s like every day is Halloween, except it’s all tricks and no treats,” he quipped. “And here’s the thing, New Jersey — it’s not as if we did not see some of this coming. I mean, I’ll admit it’s worse than even I expected, but I did warn y’all. And you know what? Donald Trump warned you, too.”

The 44th president has largely lain low since his departure from the White House, periodically emerging during key races. 

The Democratic darling packed the Essex County College Gymnasium, where the rally was held, with over 3,000 attendees and another over 2,000 who were turned away due to a lack of space, according to a rough estimate from Sherrill’s campaign. 

Other bigwig NJ Democrats joined the blockbuster rally, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ), Gov. Phil Murphy (D), and his wife Tammy Murphy, among others. 

The deployment of Democratic stars at the election homestretch made clear that the party doesn’t want to take anything for granted, given Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s stronger-than-expected performance in 2021 and competitive standing in the polls. 

Yet most of the Democratic speakers made little mention of Ciattarelli and kept their fire trained on Trump. 

“We are waging a battle in this very moment for the future of our nation,” Sherrill said, indirectly referencing the president during her introductory speech for Obama. “People across the nation, look at me, fear in their spirit, their eyes, when they say, is New Jersey up, for this moment?”

“On every single occasion, Jack has decided I’m gonna defend Trump,” she jabbed at another point. 

The crowd grew animated at times. One audience member was heard yelling “Lock him up” after the congresswoman mentioned Trump, who has threatened to pull federal tax dollars from New Jersey. At another point, the audience broke out in chants of “Jack is trash.”

During his speech, Obama blamed Republicans for the government shutdown and tore into the GOP’s opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. 

“They never miss a chance to scapegoat minorities and blame DEI for every problem under the sun. You got a flat tire? Must be DEI. Your wife kicked you out? DEI. Who knew?” the former president swiped.

Follow The Post’s live updates on the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and the California vote on Prop 50

Obama also hit Republicans on the economy, sniping that “Costs haven’t gone down, they’ve gone up, partly because of Trump’s shambolic tariff policy.”

“Even though I’m the hope and change guy, there are things I’m worried about,” he lamented. “I’m worried about how quickly basic democratic rules and norms have been weakened.”

Still, he ended on a more optimistic note about how the country has been through upheaval in the past, and that America has an opportunity to fight for change.

Obama’s appearance comes after a new shock poll by Atlas Intel Saturday showed Sherrill leading Ciattarelli by less than a single point, 50.2% to 49.3%, less than the margin of error.

Motivating minority Democrats is key to Sherrill’s survival. Newark’s population is nearly 50 percent black and more than a third Hispanic.

She leads Ciattarelli 65% to 12% among black voters, and 63% to 18% among Hispanics, according to a Suffolk University poll released Thursday.

Obama had already attended a $1.5 million fundraiser for the four-term New Jersey House member, a US Naval Academy grad and retired Navy helicopter pilot.

There were no indications that former President Biden would stump for Sherrill, who, on July 9, 2024, called for him to drop out of the race for president. “The stakes are too high — and the threat is too real — to stay silent,” she said at the time.

Obama was the most popular living president, according to Gallup back in February, with 59 percent approval. Biden was the least popular, at 39 percent.

Ciattarelli was set to hold his own event in Monmouth, a day after he told The Post that “The candidate has to go out and win the race. I know my opponent’s bringing in this person, that person. She could bring in the ghost of FDR. It’s not going to matter.”

An off-year election in a blue state while Republicans hold the White House might typically be the kind that wouldn’t give Democrats heartburn.

But Sherrill is clinging to a narrow lead of less than 3% in the Real Clear Politics polling average while seeking to succeed term-limited Murphy, in a state Joe Biden carried by 16 percentage points in 2020.

She had a bit of good news in the breakdown of early voting, with Democrats holding an edge in the raw vote count, though by less than 2 percentage points.

Sherrill has been trying to run a more centrist campaign while leftists like socialist Zohran Mamdani attract international attention in neighboring New York.

If Sherrill does lose, it may be due to her flailing answer when asked a basic question about her priorities.

“If you could pass just one piece of legislation, what would it be?” asked her interviewer, Marcia Kramer, on CBS New York.

“Wow, I would like … that’s a really good question, because there are so many that are coming to mind right now,” she said, desperately stalling for time.

The answer was “disastrous,” New Jersey State Sen. Holly Schepisi (R), who represents Bergen County, told The Post.

He has the support of Trump, who may be doing him the biggest favor by staying out of New Jersey in the final days of the race. Trump flew to Mar-a-Lago from Washington, DC Friday after his return from Asia. He opted not to go to his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, which he frequents during the summer months.

That decision makes sense to Schepisi.

“I think that it’s a very delicate balance where people who do currently support our president were not necessarily motivated four years ago to vote. I think this go-round they are motivated regardless of whether or not the president comes and stumps personally,” she said.

“The harm in him doing so is potentially motivating a currently fairly unmotivated base of voters to come out as a protest vote,” she added.

“Enthusiasm is strongly on Jack’s side,” said Bill Palatucci, an RNC member from Jersey. He said he’s been working with the party’s “election integrity team”, which has recruited lawyers in every county.