‘Ugly, racist, misogynist’: Michelle Obama tears into Trump, floors Democrats

Chicago: She made a rare appearance, but that appearance was enough to galvanise the Democratic base, generate one liners that will become a part of American lore, and create a degree of excitement that made the United Center arena in her hometown of Chicago come alive like nothing like else had.

Tuesday was truly Michelle Obama’s night at the Democratic National Convention, as she tore into Donald Trump, attacking him for racism and misogyny in a manner that Democrats have hesitated to do so far, and warned her own party not to be complacent and asked each person “do something” to elect Kamala Harris — “one of the most qualified, one of the most dignified” to run for the office — as America’s next president.

The story of hope

Speaking right before her husband, Barack, Michelle Obama alluded to the 2008 campaign that was premised on hope and change. “Something, something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it? A familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I am talking about. It’s the contagious power of hope, the anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day.”

Placing this hope in the context of what they had been battling against, the former First Lady said she had mourned the dimming of the hope, with a “deep pit in my stomach, a palpable sense of dread about the future”. She also spoke about her personal grief at losing her mother recently, and the values her mother had lived by and taught them — that all people have value, that anyone can succeed with opportunity, that if you do good, it will pay off.

Linking it with the story of the new Democratic nominee for president, Michelle said, “Kamala Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values. Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country. That’s why her mother moved here from India at 19. It’s why she taught Kamala about justice, about the obligation to lift others up, about our responsibility to give more than we take.”

Briefly tracing Harris’s evolution, Obama said “my girl, Kamala Harris” is “more than ready for this moment”. “She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency. And she is one of the most dignified…Kamala knows, like we do, that regardless of where you come from, what you look like, who you love, how you worship, or what’s in your bank account, we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life.”

Targets Donald Trump

And that is when Obama began throwing her attack lines, first indirectly and then directly at Donald Trump.

In what was a clear reference to Harris’s racial and economic background, a smack down of those who called Harris a “DEI candidate”, and a contrast to Trump, Obama said, “She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt the business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third, or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. No. We don’t get to change the rules, so we always win. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top. No.” Democratic delegates on the floor quickly picked the message and responded with a standing ovation and loud cheers. African-Americans and women have long felt that and believed that they have to work doubly hard, for half the returns, with little room for failure to move ahead.

Michelle then moved to offering a warning on what will come next by drawing, for the first time, her own experience of being attacked by Trump, who insisted for a long time that Barack Obama wasn’t born in America, a conspiracy theory that forced him to produce his birth certificate.

“We know what comes next. We know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth. My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black,” Michelle said, spelling out the racism that many had felt but not articulated as clearly in the attacks against her husband.

Even as the crowd roared in approval, Michelle doubled down, made a face, and said, “Wait, I want to know: Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?” In recent weeks, Trump has spoken of how immigrants have taken away “Black jobs”, a description that has shocked people for its racist connotations. Delegates on the floor erupted in laughter, for appropriating the presidency as a Black job had turned the tables on Trump, even as Michelle continued, “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.”

Michelle then attacked Trump for his policy, actions and proposals. She said that cutting access to health care, taking away freedom to control one’s bodies and the freedom to become a mother through IVF “like I did”, won’t improve the health of women; shutting down the department of education and banning books won’t improve children’s future; demonising children for who they were and who they loved won’t make lives better.

“It only makes us small. And let me tell you this: Going small is never the answer. Going small is the opposite of what we teach our kids. Going small is petty, it’s unhealthy, and quite frankly, it’s unpresidential,” Michelle said, a reminder of her line from 2016 when she had said that when the other side goes low, it was time to go high.

Michelle then returned to the choice at hand and told delegates and millions of Americans watching on television, “Why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office? Why would we normalise that type of backward leadership…There is no other choice than Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. No other choice.”

But like her husband would do minutes later, Michelle Obama warned against complacency, told Democrats that many wanted a different outcome and that they needed to stay the course and act.

“We cannot be our own worst enemies. No. See, because the minute something goes wrong, the minute a lie takes hold, folks, we cannot start wringing our hands. We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right. And we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected,” Michelle said, in what appeared to be an allusion to 2016 when the flaws of Hillary Clinton, or the perception that America wasn’t ready for a woman president, had hobbled the Democratic campaign.

And that is when Michelle gave a mantra to the delegates which they quickly embraced. “If they lie about her — and they will — we have got to do something. If we see a bad poll — and we will — we have got to put down that phone and do something…consider this to be your official ask: Michelle Obama is asking you—no, I am telling y’all—to do something.”

Over 20,000 delegates in the arena accepted the challenge, chanting, “Do something,” as Michelle Obama ended her rousing speech, and introduced the man who she said knew something about hope, “America’s 44th President and the love of my life, Barack Obama”.

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