Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered a roughly 20-minute speech Tuesday night at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, telling Americans that “hope is making a comeback” with Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on the Democratic ticket. (Michelle Obama speech)
In the speech, Obama honored her late mother, Marian Robinson, saying she believes Harris holds similar values.
She never wanted to go into politics. She was pulled into it by her husband’s ambitions, and yet Michelle Obama proved Tuesday night that she is the conscience of the Democratic Party — and perhaps our nation — when it comes to matters of identity and civility.
She had come back to her hometown of Chicago just weeks after memorializing her mother on the south side of that city.
Despite the difficulty of returning to the place of a loss that still must sting, she delivered a speech for the ages.
Obama will forever be associated with saying, “When they go low, we go high,” her mantra for how to respond to bullies such as Donald Trump. But she made clear that this is a new day that requires a new game plan. To be clear, I’m not saying she went low. That is never her style. But she definitely went to new places by allowing herself to reveal more than a hint of constructive anger — an option that was not available to her in all her years as first lady.
Michelle Obama speech is being widely applauded for delivering a devastating takedown of Donald Trump in a speech at the Democratic national convention.
The former first lady artfully lampooned Trump and belittled his exploitation of race for political gain in a 20-minute speech that was greeted ecstatically by Democratic delegates in Chicago, her home town. (Part of Michelle Obama speech 💬
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. His limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working,
highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black,” Obama told the gathering, referring to Trump’s well-known hostility to the presidency of her husband, Barack Obama, including promoting a false conspiracy theory that he was born outside the US.
The New York Times described Obama’s change of tack as moving from “When they go low, we go high” to “when they go low, we call it out”, while Rachel Maddow on MSNBC praised her for “one of the best convention speeches I’ve ever seen by anybody in any circumstance … because it was subtle and deep and thought-provoking and surprising … Just a stunning speech.”
Politico characterised her approach to Trump – and Barack Obama’s in a speech immediately following hers,
where he appeared to make an anatomical allusion to Trump’s obsession with crowd size – as “make him small”. Biden’s campaign, by contrast, had long attempted to cast the Republican as such a powerful figure who could be a threat to democracy itself.
“Our fate is in our hands,” Obama said. “In 77 days, we have the power to turn our country away from the fear, division, and smallness of the past. We have the power to marry our hope with our action.”
Obama’s address before Democratic lawmakers and delegates was particularly poignant given that she has maintained a relatively low profile so far this election cycle and has
consistently avoided the rough-and-tumble of partisan politics, choosing instead to focus on broader societal issues through her initiatives and public speaking engagements.
But Obama and her husband former President Barack Obama remain widely popular among Democrats—one of the reasons her name had been floated as a possible alternative to take over the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden exited the race.
The Obamas quickly endorsed Harris after Biden dropped out, saying she has the character and experience to meet the moment.
Michelle Obama speech : Some highlights
Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it?” she said, receiving huge applause on the second night of the convention. “We’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading all across this country we love. A familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for too long. You know what I’m talking about? It’s the contagious power of hope!”
Michelle Obama has spoken at every convention since 2008, when her husband was first nominated. Eight years later, she delivered her memorable line, “When they go low, we go high.” In her 2020 speech, she said then-President Trump “is clearly in over his head” and “cannot meet this moment.” (Part of Michelle Obama speech)
Michelle Obama speech noted that she was last in Chicago for a memorial for her mother, Marian Robinson, who died in May. Her mother, she said, “set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my voice,” and she said months later, “I still feel her loss so profoundly — I wasn’t even sure I’d be steady enough to stand before you tonight.”
She added that she felt compelled to be at the convention to honor her memory and “that striving sense of hope” she lived “every day of her life.” And the values Obama drew from her mother, she sees in Harris.
“Kamala Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values,” Obama said.
The former first lady sought to contrast Harris and Trump throughout her speech, while only mentioning the former president by name once.
“Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation, not by spewing anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others, she understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward,” Harris said.
She touted Harris “as more than ready for this moment,” calling her “one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency.”
“It couldn’t be more obvious of the two major candidates in this race, only Kamala Harris truly understands the unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great,” she said. “Now, unfortunately, we know what comes next.”
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. His limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard working and highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.”
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