Michelle Obama pays tribute to late mother, slams Trump’s ‘black jobs’ remark in DNC speech

Michelle Obama pays tribute to late mother, slams Trump’s ‘black jobs’ remark in DNC speech

Washington — Former first lady Michelle Obama celebrated Kamala Harris’ presidential bid in a speech at the Democratic Convention On Tuesday, she compared her candidacy to that of her husband Barack Obama in 2008.

“America, hope is back,” she said, alluding to her iconic 2008 campaign on hope.

“There’s something wonderfully magical in the air, isn’t there?” she said, receiving huge applause on the second night of the convention. “We feel it here in this arena, but it’s spreading throughout this country that we love. A familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for too long. You know what I mean? 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 book 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 cope with this moment.”

Obama noted that she came to Chicago for a tribute to her mother, Marian Robinson, who died in MayHer 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 deeply — I wasn’t even sure I was stable enough to stand in front of you tonight.”

She added that she felt compelled to be at the convention to honor her memory and “that sense of hope” she experienced “every day of her life.” And the values ​​Obama learned from her mother, she finds in Harris.

“Kamala Harris and I have built our lives on these same core values,” Obama said.

Michelle Obama delivers a speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago
Former first lady Michelle Obama on stage for her speech on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 20, 2024.

Alyssa Pointer/REUTERS


The former first lady sought to contrast Harris and Asset throughout his speech, while only mentioning the former president’s 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, understanding that most of us will never have the grace to fail,” Harris said.

She introduced Harris as “more than ready for this moment,” calling her “one of the most qualified people to ever run for president.”

“It could not be more obvious that the two main candidates in this race“Only Kamala Harris truly understands the invisible work and unwavering commitment that has always made America great,” she said. “Now, sadly, we know what’s coming next.”

“For years, Donald Trump has done everything in his power to make people fear us. His limited and narrow worldview has made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, educated, successful black people.”

Then, she joked, “who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for right now might be one of those ‘black jobs’?”

It was a reference to Trump, who in the June debate against President Biden, claimed that immigrants were taking “black jobs.”

During her speech, Obama also briefly touched on IVF, which she used to conceive her two daughters. Under a Trump presidency, “destroying our health care system, taking away our freedom to control our bodies, our freedom to become mothers through IVF, as I did — those things are not going to improve the health of our wives, mothers and daughters,” she said. Obama first revealed her use of IVF in his book” Become “.

She called on Americans to “do something” to help elect Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“In some states, a handful of votes in each district could determine the winner. So we must vote in sufficient numbers to dispel any doubt. We must crush any attempt to suppress us,” she said. “Let us work as if our lives depended on it, and let us continue to move our country forward and higher, yes, higher than ever before.”

Given her popularity, Democrats and Republicans alike have speculated for years about her possible run for the White House, although the former first lady has consistently expressed her distaste for politics.

After Mr. Biden’s Rants debate According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of registered voters conducted in late June, Michelle Obama was the only Democrat to beat Trump in a hypothetical matchup. She had 50% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 39%.