Warning of a difficult fight ahead, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama called on the nation to embrace Kamala Harris on Tuesday in urgent messages to the Democratic National Convention that were at times both hopeful and ominous.
“America, hope is making a comeback,” the former first lady declared. She then tore into Republican Donald Trump, a sharp shift from the 2016 convention speech in which she told her party, “When they go low, we go high.”
“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,” Michelle Obama said of Trump.
Barack Obama, the first Black president in U.S. history, insisted the nation is ready to elect Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage and would be the nation’s first female president. He also called Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”
“It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” he said.
Michelle Obama also addressed race directly as she jabbed Trump, referencing a comment he made in a June debate.
“Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” she said. ”It’s his same old con: doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better.”
The fiery messages from two of the Democratic Party’s biggest stars underscored the moment’s urgency as Harris works to stitch together a broad coalition in her bid to defeat Trump this fall. The vice president draws on stars like the Obamas and other celebrities, officials from the far left to the middle, and even some Republicans to boost her campaign.
And while the theme of the night was “a bold vision for America’s future,” the disparate factions of Harris’ evolving coalition demonstrated, above all, that they are connected by a deep desire to prevent a second Trump presidency.
As Democrats addressed the nation from Chicago, Harris faced an estimated 15,000 people in battleground Wisconsin in the arena where Republicans held their convention last month. She said that she was running “a people-powered campaign.”
“Together we will chart a new way forward,” the vice president said in remarks that were partially broadcast to the DNC. “A future for freedom, opportunity, of optimism and faith.”
Still, it was not all serious on the second night of the four-day convention.
A symbolic roll call in which delegates from each state pledged their support for the Democratic nominee turned into a party atmosphere. A DJ played a mix of state-specific songs — and Atlanta native Lil Jon ran out during Georgia’s turn to his hit song with DJ Snake, “Turn Down for What,” to the delight of the thousands inside the cavernous United Center.
And various speakers offered personal stories about Harris, who has served as a California senator and vice president but remains largely unknown among many voters.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who would become the nation’s first gentleman if his wife wins the presidency, shared details about his relationship with the vice president — their cooking habits, their first date and her laugh, which is often mocked by Republican critics.
“You know that laugh. I love that laugh!” Emhoff said as the crowd cheered. Later, he added, “Her empathy is her strength.”
Trump, meanwhile, was out on the campaign trail as part of his weeklong swing-state tour during the Democratic convention. He went to Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday and stood aside sheriff’s deputies as he labeled Harris the “ringleader” of a “Marxist attack on law enforcement” across the country.
“Kamala Harris will deliver crime, chaos, destruction and death,” Trump said in one of many generalizations about an America under Harris.
Throughout their convention, Democrats have sought to balance a message of unity with an embrace of diversity.
Barack Obama’s speech Tuesday night made perhaps the most forceful case for that model as a logical step forward for a bitterly divided nation. In contrast to the party’s rhetoric in the recent past around race, Obama framed the Democrats’ approach as “a new way forward” for a modern society in contrast to a “divisive,” “old” and “tired” strategy of vision offered by the party’s chief opponent, Trump.
Barack Obama returned to the convention stage 20 years after making his first appearance at a national convention, a 2004 appearance in Boston that propelled him into the national spotlight ahead of his successful presidential run. And he praised President Joe Biden, who ended his reelection bid last month and endorsed Harris.
“History will remember Joe Biden as a president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger,” Obama said Tuesday as the crowd chanted, “Thank you, Joe.” “I am proud to call him my president, but even prouder to call him my friend.”
Harris, meanwhile, cast the election in dire, almost existential terms. She implored Americans not to get complacent in light of the Supreme Court decision carving out broad presidential immunity, a power she said Trump would abuse.
She has also seized on Trump’s opposition to a nationally guaranteed right to abortion.
“They seemingly don’t trust women,” she said of Trump and his Republican allies. “Well, we trust women.”
The vice president’s speech in Milwaukee evoked some of the same themes that underlaid Biden’s case for reelection before he dropped out, casting Trump as a threat to democracy. Harris argued that Trump threatens the values and freedoms that Americans hold dear.
Trump said he would be a dictator only on his first day in office, a quip he later said was a joke, and has vowed as president to assert more control over federal prosecutions, an area of government that has traditionally been left to the Justice Department.
Someone with that record “should never again have the opportunity to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States,” Harris said. “Never again.”
9 best moments from Day 1
On Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention, one thing was abundantly clear – the Democratic Party has an overabundance of political stars; folk who know their stuff and possess the presence and power to deliver their messages.
Not trying to be a “Debbie Downer,” but what happens to all that political promise and firepower if Trump and Project 2025 come to pass? Just this past week it was uncovered that all the hyper-militarized responses at the border to “keep immigrants out” were just dress rehearsals for proposed Republican desires to use that same level of military force on any members of the general public Republicans don’t like, starting with peaceful protesters and escalating from there.
Anyway, enough of the gloom and doom (that is hopefully pushing you to see the critical importance of this upcoming election). And FYI… those negative outcomes won’t come to pass if the Democratic talent on display on Day 1 of the DNC and Democratic voters who show out at the polls on Nov. 5 have anything to say about it.
Here are nine of the standout moments from the DNC’s opening act.
Rep. Jasmine Crocket
The Congresswoman from Dallas didn’t disappoint with her time on the mic. Not only was her “Kamala Harris has a resume; Donald Trump has a rap sheet” line on point, but she very viciously hit Trump with a run of V-words that made everybody wanna holla! But it was probably Crockett’s heartfelt testimony about her first meeting with Kamala, wiping her real tears away while she spoke, that got everybody in their feelings.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
This Squad member brought so much fire and funk, that it’s hard to recall any one point of hers that stood out above any others. It was her energy and passion that folk were feeling – unapologetically standing on business for real working people, for the people of the global majority for those calling for an end to the multiple genocides taking place the world over.
Former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton
It was powerful to see the former Secretary of State and former Democratic candidate for POTUS, Hillary Clinton, so passionately standing for Kamala Harris when Clinton could have been salty about how the electorate let her down in 2016, ignoring her warnings about who Trump is and what he’d do, largely because sexism in this land is still a thing.
Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors and the 2024 US Men’s Olympics Basketball team, spoke powerful words on leadership. The fact that he knew the economic and professional risks he was taking speaking at the DNC and endorsing the Harris/Walz ticket, yet he spoke anyway, was powerful. But what most will remember about his words, was his closing, when he said, “When we elect Kamala Harris as POTUS in November, we can tell Trump, in the famous words of [Kerr’s star player] Steph Curry, ‘Night, night!’”
The In-Convention Commercials
Man. Those in-convention commercials, though! One reminded folk about the horrors of COVID and used a clip of Trump saying, “Okay, so thousands are dying; it is what it is.” Wow. Wow. Then another “commercial” showed Trump bragging about ending Roe and saying “there has to be punishment for women,” followed by three on-stage, in-person testimonies dealing with the threats to reproductive freedom. Josh Zurawski, whose wife Amanda almost died because medical professionals denied her treatment, said, “The fight for reproductive rights isn’t just a woman’s fight. This is about fighting for our families.” Then a sister, Kaitlyn Joshua, told her own harrowing tale due to Trump’s demolition of women’s reproductive rights. And finally, a young lady (Hadley) who had been raped and impregnated by her stepfather when she was 12-years-old, said, “Trumps says [these attacks on women’s reproductive freedoms] are a beautiful thing. But what’s so beautiful about a child having to carry their parent’s child?” Damn.
US Senator (GA) Raphael Warnock
Pastor/Senator Warnock reminded folk that Georgia elected him to the U.S. Senate on Jan. 5, 2021, and the next day Trump led an insurrection against the U.S. government. To that, Warnock said, “Elections are about the character of the country… We must decide what kind of country we want to be. We must decide between the promise of Jan. 5 and the peril of Jan. 6.” And then he went to church, calling listeners to recognize the humanity in peril of the people of Haiti, Sudan, the Congo, Gaza, and all across the US.
Joe Lovefest
And then there was the Joe Biden lovefest; people showing their appreciation for him moving out of the way for Harris to head the ticket and breathe life and possibilities into this election.
Jesse Celebration
Folks forget that Jesse Jackson’s two presidential runs changed the political game forever. The fact that a brother could prove so successful and consequential in his attempt to with the Democratic Party’s nomination for POTUS in 1984 and 1988 opened many eyes to the political possibilities of Blackfolk on the biggest national stage. “Run Jesse Run” surely opened the door to the eventual Obama presidency.
Kamala’s Surprise Appearance
Every major media outlet reported the entire DNC Day 1 lineup over and over again. So, folk who tuned in knew exactly what and who to expect… for the most part. And then, out of the blue, came the political star of the show – VP Kamala Harris. She didn’t say much. She didn’t have to. Not scheduled to speak until the final day of the DNC, when she just showed up on stage, thanking people in Chicago and out in TV land for being part of the DNC, it was a moment.
