Michelle Obama delivered a fiery speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, making an “official ask” of those listening, while offering a stark warning for what comes next.
In a speech that both targeted Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and praised Vice President Kamala Harris, Obama said “hope is making a comeback.”
Obama energized millions on Harris’ behalf inside the United Center.
“Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it?” the former first lady said before referencing her husband’s famous slogan. “It’s the contagious power of hope.”
But that hope came with a message.
“As we embrace this renewed sense of hope, let us not forget the despair we have felt…let us not forget what we are up against,” Obama said. “Yes, Kamala and Tim are doing great right now… they’re packing arenas across the country… folks are energized… we’re feeling good. But there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome, who are ready to question and criticize every move Kamala makes, who are eager to spread those lies, who don’t want to vote for a woman, who will continue to prioritize building their wealth over ensuring everyone has enough. No matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is still going to be an uphill battle… so we cannot be our own worst enemies.”
Obama tore into Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has long attacked the first Black president and first lady, before harkening back to a recent comment Trump made about preserving so-called “Black jobs.”
“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black,” he said. “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s seeking might be one of those ‘Black jobs’?”
Even as she attacked Trump, Obama encouraged Democrats to take the high road: “When they go low, we go high.”
She warned Tuesday that Trump’s policies and rhetoric “only makes us small. And let me tell you … going small is never the answer.”
She added: “Going small is petty … it’s unhealthy … and quite frankly, it’s unpresidential.”
She called Harris and running mate Tim Walz “good, big-hearted people,” while acknowledging “they’re not perfect.”
The former first lady also gave a touching tribute to her mother, Marian Robinson, who died earlier this year.
She called her mother the woman who “set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice.”
“I still feel her loss so profoundly,” she said.
Robinson was an integral part of the Obamas’ years in the White House, where she lived with them and helped raise the then first-couples’ two daughters.
“I wasn’t even sure I’d be sturdy enough to stand before you tonight but my heart compelled me to because of the sense of duty that I feel to honor her memory and remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders make to give us a better future,” Obama said.
She ended her speech with what she described as “an official ask.”
“Michelle Obama is asking you to do something,” she said. “Because this is going to be close. In some states, just a handful of votes in every precinct could decide the winner. So we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt… we need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us. Our fate is in our hands.”
She then introduced Barak Obama who she said still wakes up every day thinking about what he can do for the country. The couple hugged warmly, kissed and then held their clasped hands skyward as the former president took the stage.
Her husband followed with a speech of his own, saying her words left him “fired up.”
“I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama,” he began.
Both Barack and Michelle Obama have spoken at the last four Democratic National Conventions, with the former president also delivering the keynote address at the 2004 DNC in Boston.
The Obamas’ addresses come one day after the unofficial farewell for Biden, who served eight years as his vice president. Biden won’t be in the hall to see his former running mate speak, having departed Chicago after his own speech Monday night.
According to convention organizers, the theme for Tuesday’s events was “A bold vision for America’s future,” a defined pivot toward a new generation for Democrats and their leadership. After a Monday night that nodded to Harris’ possibility but also lauded the legacy of Biden and his decades of accomplishment, convention organizers now appear ready to shift toward the next stage of their journey.
In laying out their plans for the week, convention organizers described Tuesday night as a way to contrast what they characterized as Harris’ forward-looking strategy with Trump’s less positive outlook on America’s future.
The Obamas capped off a night of big speeches on the second day of the convention.