CLEVELAND — President Obama spoke in Cleveland early Friday to encourage voters to get out and vote early for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

He alternated between praising Mrs. Clinton and her plans to continue policies similar to his, and criticizing Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, whom he called unfit for office.

“All that progress goes out the window if we don’t make the right choice right now,” Mr. Obama said to a crowd of about 1,000 people outside Burke Lakefront Airport.

He echoed First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech in New Hampshire on Thursday night, where she said she was “shaken to the core” by Mr. Trump’s comments in 2005 about kissing and touching women.

“You don’t have to be a husband or father to know that kind of language, those kinds of thoughts, those kind of actions are unacceptable,” Mr. Obama said. “You just have to be a decent human being.”

Rob Frost, the chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, said coverage of the tape was becoming a circus, and that Mr. Trump had already apologized.

“I think there’s a reason President Obama wants to talk about Donald Trump’s temperament and all these side issues is because neither the President nor Hillary Clinton want to talk about the real issues,” Mr. Frost said.

The President spoke for about 40 minutes, opening with some lighthearted comments like making sure he receives his security deposit back when he leaves the White House, as well as congratulating Cleveland on the Cavaliers’ NBA Championship.

He brought up many of Mr. Trump’s inflammatory comments, as well as Mrs. Clinton’s qualification’s for office, saying she is the most qualified person to ever run for the presidency, including himself.

“She’s been the first lady, she’s been a senator, she has been my secretary of state and, in each and every job she has worked tirelessly and diligently, [and] listened to the American people,” he said.

Tom Coyne is the Republican mayor of Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb of about 20,000 people that has seen a once-robust manufacturing sector decline. He is skeptical that Mrs. Clinton’s experience is a positive for her campaign.

“She was a senator for a couple of years? Secretary of State? Let’s look at that, let’s examine that experience,” Mr. Coyne said. “Look at their experience. If that’s the experience the American people want to continue, we’re not going anywhere.”

Mr. Obama continued the line of attack he used Thursday night against Republican leadership, accusing them of allowing many of Mr. Trump’s comments to go unchecked until his comments about sexual assault became public, when more Republicans rescinded their endorsements of Mr. Trump.

“Why’d it take you this long?” he asked.

This election was the first as a registered Republican for Mr. Coyne, who voted for Mr. Trump on Friday afternoon. He believes the American people are willing to look past Mr. Trump’s past.

“Was it a surprise to anybody? Probably not. He was a playboy, young rich guy, and that was the mad man mentality of the time,” Mr. Coyne said. “Regular folks in this country will give anybody a second chance if they believe things are going to be better for them.”

Mr. Obama drew a contrast between Mr. Trump and previous Republican presidential opponents, saying while he thought he would be a better president than them, he was not afraid of them becoming president.

“I could have seen either one of them serving honorably, and not embarrassing us on the world stage,” he said.

Contact Zack Lemon at: zlemon@theblade.com, 419-724-6282, or on Twitter @zack_lemon.

First Published October 15, 2016, 4:00 a.m.