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TOPLINE
In a passionate speech to close off the first night of the Democratic National Convention, former first lady Michelle Obama made a direct appeal for Americans to vote for Joe Biden “like our lives depend on it” as she blasted President Donald Trump’s leadership and asserted: “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head.”
Former First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the virtual convention on August 17, 2020
DNCC via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Obama made one of her most direct criticisms of Trump yet, saying as she addressed the virtual conference: “A president’s words have the power to move markets. They can start wars or broker peace. They can summon our better angels or awaken our worst instincts. You simply cannot fake your way through this job.”
She went on to take a more direct aim at Trump, adding later: “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country…He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
Obama also blasted Trump’s delayed response to the coronavirus, saying he “downplayed” it for too long resulting in Americans struggling with healthcare, basic necessities and the prospect of schools reopening safely.”
Her speech also condemned Trump’s approach to Black Lives Matter protests, saying the movement was met with “derision” from the nation’s highest office and slamming leaders for “emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists”.
“Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy,” Obama added.
Obama’s speech was still trending into Tuesday morning, with political commentators including the New York Times’ Stephanie Saul and Politico’s Ryan Lizza noting her popularity among Democrats, and her wider appeal nationwide.
Big number
26 million viewers tuned in to watch the first night of 2016’s convention in Philadelphia. It is yet to be revealed how many watched this year’s opening night.
What to watch for
Trump’s reaction to Obama’s remarks. Trump has previously hit back after Michelle wrote in her memoir that she would “never forgive him for putting our family in danger” with his support for the baseless conspiracy theory that President Obama was born in Kenya.
Key background
Monday marked Michelle Obama’s fourth DNC speech, and symbolically, she echoed the now famous line she made in her 2016 speech: “When they go low, we go high”. This time around, the phrase was imbued with more urgency as she explicitly acknowledged a nation “deeply divided”. “Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences,” she said on Monday. As the New York Times notes, Michelle Obama’s repeated billing at the convention reflects her standing as America’s most admired woman, according to the most recent Gallup poll.
Tangent
Obama last week revealed in her podcast that she was suffering from a “low grade depression” in response to a spate of high-profile deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police officers, and the pandemic. “We are living through something that no one in our lifetimes has lived through,” she said.
Further reading
Full Michelle Obama D.N.C. Speech Transcript (New York Times)
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