When Democrats make a case against Donald Trump, they typically focus on many of the former president’s worst qualities. The party and its officials are eager to remind voters that the Republican is dangerous and radical, dishonest and corrupt, ignorant and hateful. The assessments, of course, are rooted in fact.
But one of the striking things about Michelle and Barack Obama’s respective speeches at the Democratic National Convention was their willingness to make a different kind of case against the GOP candidate: Trump, the Obamas effectively argued, is small And tiring.
From the former first lady’s comments:
“[Kamala Harris] has shown her loyalty to this nation — not by venting anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service and always opening the doors of opportunity to others. She understands that most of us will never be given the grace to fail forward. We will never benefit from the positive action of generational wealth. When we let a business fail — when we let a business fail or choke on a crisis, we don’t get a second, third, or fourth chance. When things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating to get ahead. No. We can’t change the rules, so we always win. When we see a mountain ahead of us, we don’t expect an escalator waiting to take us to the top. No. We put our heads down. We go to work. In America, we do something.”
It wasn’t subtle.
Sure, both Obamas spent most of their speeches praising the incumbent vice president, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and the vision of the Democratic ticket, but some of the most memorable parts of their remarks were their disparaging comments about the Republican candidate.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything he could to make people afraid of us,” the former first lady added. “You see, his narrow, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be black. I want to know, who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for right now might be one of those black jobs?
“It’s his old trick. Double down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better.
“Look, because cutting our health care, taking away our freedom to control our bodies, the freedom to become mothers through IVF, as I did — those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our women, our mothers, our daughters. Shutting down the Department of Education, banning our books — none of that is going to prepare our children for the future. Demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love, look, that doesn’t make anyone’s life better. Instead, instead, it just makes us small. And let me tell you this: Smalling up is never the answer. Smalling up is the opposite of what we teach our children. Smalling up is petty. It’s unhealthy. And frankly, it’s unpresidential.”
If there was a time when Michelle Obama held her fists, that time is long gone.
Her husband’s assessment matched hers closely.
“Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he went down that golden escalator nine years ago,” the former president said. “It’s a constant barrage of whining and grievances that’s only gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala. There are the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes. It just goes on and on and on. I heard someone the other day compare Trump to the neighbor who runs a leaf blower outside your window every minute of the day.”
When Obama referred to Trump’s strange obsession with crowd size, note what he did with his hands:
President Obama: It’s a constant stream of whining and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that Trump is afraid of losing to Kamala. The childish nicknames and crazy conspiracy theories and weird obsession with crowd sizes 🤏 photo.twitter.com/cstJYrpiCg
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 21, 2024
“Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided: between us and them, between the real Americans who of course support him and the outsiders who don’t,” Obama added. “And he wants you to think that you’ll be richer and safer if you just give him the power to put those other people back in their place. It’s one of the oldest tricks in politics, from a man whose act — let’s face it — has gotten pretty boring. We don’t need four more years of bluster and bungling and chaos. We’ve seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse.”
When it comes to exposes, the Obamas were not only spot-on, they also delivered speeches we won’t soon forget.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
