Former First Lady Michelle Obama mentioned Donald Trump by name only once during her speech at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night.
But the purpose of her fiery prime-time speech, which lasted about 20 minutes, was clear from the start.
“It’s his old trick: He continues to use ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better,” Obama said of Trump.
The former first lady repeatedly attacked the president who succeeded her husband.
She noted the personal attacks she and President Obama endured during his two terms, saying Trump “did everything in his power to make people afraid of us” because he felt “threatened” by two successful black people.
Read more: Obama offers fierce, fiery support to Harris
“Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for right now might be one of those black jobs?” she said of Trump, referring to controversial comments the Republican presidential candidate made during the campaign about immigrants taking “black jobs.”
The line sent crowds into a frenzy of excitement at the United Center, but it wasn’t Obama’s only comment.
Discussing the virtues of hardworking Americans, she noted, “When we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect an escalator to take us to the top,” an apparent reference to the infamous June 2015 event in Manhattan that launched Trump’s first presidential campaign, when he rode a gold Trump Tower escalator down to a rally where he warned that Mexico was sending rapists and other criminals across the border into the U.S.
Obama began her speech by explaining that she wasn’t sure she could deliver the address because she was still grieving the loss of her mother, Marian Robinson, who died on May 31 at age 86. There were other revealing details: Obama said she had become a mother through IVF in a darker part of the speech that focused on the prospect of Trump regaining the presidency and “taking away our freedom to control our bodies.”
But she said she also felt buoyed by “a familiar feeling” — the “contagious power of hope,” referring to the word long associated with her husband’s political message.
“America, hope is coming back,” she said.
Notably, she did not mention President Biden. Instead, Obama focused her praise on Kamala Harris, saying she and the vice president had built their lives on the same “foundational values” of hard work, determination and sacrifice.
“Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment,” Obama said. “She is one of the most qualified people to ever seek the presidency, and she is one of the most worthy.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
