Washington – Former first lady Michelle Obama celebrates the presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris in a speech on Democratic Convention Tuesday, comparing her candidacy to that of her husband Barack Obama in 2008.
“America, hope is back,” he said, referring to his iconic 2008 campaign about hope.
“There’s something magical in the air, isn’t there?” he said, receiving huge applause on the second night of the convention. “We feel it in this arena, but it spreads throughout the country we love. It’s a familiar feeling that’s been buried for too long. You know what I’m saying? It’s a contagious hope!”
Michelle Obama has spoken at every convention since 2008, when her husband was first nominated. Eight years later, he sent his memorable line, “When they go down, we go high.” In a 2020 speech, he said President Trump was “clearly in over his head” and “couldn’t meet this moment.”
Obama noted that he was last in Chicago for the memorial service of his mother, Marian Robinson, who died in May. Her mother, she said, “set my moral compass high and showed me the strength of my voice,” and she said months later, “I still feel like I’m losing her — I’m not even sure I’ll be strong enough to stand before you tonight.”
He added that he felt the need to attend the convention to honor his memory and the “sense of hope” he carried “every day of his life.” And Obama’s values ​​attracted his mother, he saw in Harris.
“Kamala Harris and I built our lives on the same basic values,” Obama said.
Alyssa Pointer/REUTERS
The former first lady sought to contrast Harris and Trump during the speech, when he only mentioned the former president’s name once.
“Kamala has shown her loyalty to this nation, not with anger and hatred, but with a life of service and always opening the door of opportunity for others, she knows that most of us will not have the grace to fail to move forward,” said Haris.
He called Harris “more than ready for this moment,” calling him “one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of president.”
“Couldn’t be more clear about the two main ones candidates in this raceonly Kamala Harris truly understands the invisible labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great,” he said. “Now, unfortunately, we know what’s coming.”
“For years, Donald Trump has done everything in his power to try to make people fear us. His limited and narrow view of the world has made him feel threatened by two hard-working, educated, successful people who are Black.”
Then, he joked, “Who’s to tell you that the job you’re currently looking for might be one of those ‘black jobs’?”
It’s a reference to Trump, who is in June debate to President Biden claiming that immigrants are taking “black jobs.”
During the speech, Obama also mentioned IVF, which he used to conceive his two daughters. Under Trump’s presidency, “destroying health care, taking away the freedom to control your body, the freedom to be a mother through IVF, as I did — these things will not improve health outcomes for wives, mothers, and daughters,” she said. Obama first announced his use of IVF in his book “Becoming.”
He called on Americans to “do whatever it takes” to help elect Harris and his running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“In some countries, only a few – listen to me – a few votes in each region can decide the winner. So, we have to choose a number that removes doubts. We have to overcome the efforts to reduce us,” he said. . “Let us work as if our lives depended on it, and let us continue to advance our country and advance higher, yes, certainly higher than before.”
Because of Obama’s popularity, Democrats and Republicans have speculated for years that he would run for the White House, although the former first lady has consistently expressed her distaste for politics.
After Mr. Biden’s debate performance in late June, a Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters found that Obama was the only Democrat to beat Trump in a hypothetical matchup. He has 50% support, compared to Trump’s 39%.
