Former first lady Michelle Obama energized her supporters for Kamala Harris on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, demonstrating the energy and breadth of the Democratic nominee’s evolving coalition.
“There’s something wonderfully magical in the air, isn’t there?” the former first lady told the DNC crowd at the United Center, before referencing President Barack Obama’s famous slogan. “It’s the contagious power of hope.”
Obama added: “America, hope is returning.”
She also took aim at Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has long attacked the first black president and first lady, before walking back a recent comment Trump made about preserving so-called “black jobs.”
“His limited and narrow worldview made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, college-educated, successful people who happen to be black,” he said. “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for might be one of those ‘black jobs’?”
Even as she attacked Trump, Obama sought to capture the energy of her 2016 convention speech when she encouraged Democrats to take the path to greatness in the face of Donald Trump: “When they go low, we go high.”
She warned that Trump’s policies and rhetoric “are only making us smaller. And let me tell you… shrinking down to a small size is never the answer.”
She added: “Being petty is petty… it’s unhealthy… and frankly, it’s not presidential.” She called Harris and her running mate Tim Walz “good people with big hearts.”
Obama sought to warn Democrats against becoming “their own worst enemies,” pointing to the qualities of Harris and Walz.
“Kamala and Tim have lived extraordinary lives. I am confident they will lead with compassion, inclusion and grace,” Obama said. “But they are only human. They are not perfect. And like all of us, they will make mistakes.”
Obama also paid a moving tribute to his 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 his loss deeply,” she said.
Robinson played a pivotal role during the Obamas’ years in the White House, where she lived with them and helped raise the first couple’s two daughters.
“I wasn’t even sure I was strong enough to stand before you tonight, but my heart moved me to do so because of the sense of duty I feel to honor his memory and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders make to give us a better future,” the former first lady said.
Before concluding her speech, Obama said she was introducing “someone who knows a lot about hope.”
She introduced Barack Obama, who she said wakes up every day thinking about what he can do for the country. The couple hugged and kissed and then raised their hands to the sky as the former president took the stage.
