Barack & Michelle Obama blast Trump & offer hope in second night of DNC speeches

Former President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and the current Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff all spoke during the second night of the Democratic National Convention, alongside other notable speakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and gay Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcom Kenyatta (D).

The speeches drew a contrast between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her opponent, former President Donald Trump. The Obamas also emphasized the importance of doing everything possible in the next 76 days to get Democratic voters to the polls in order to overwhelm Trump’s chance of taking the Oval Office a second time.

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Former President Barack Obama

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After praising Biden for passing the torch to Harris, the former president said, “As we gather here tonight, the people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question: Who will fight for me? Who’s thinking about my future, about my children’s future, about our future together.”

“One thing is for certain, Donald Trump is not losing sleep over that question,” he said. “Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It has been a constant scream of gripes and grievances that’s actually been getting worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala: There’s the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes. It just goes on and on and on.”

“We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos,” Barack Obama said. “We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse. America is ready for a new chapter. America is ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”

“Kamala Harris won’t be focused on her problems. She’ll be focused on yours,” he continued. “As president, she won’t just cater to her own supporters and punish those who refuse to kiss the ring or bend the knee. She’ll work on behalf of every American.”

He then said that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz “have kept faith to America’s central story: a story that says we are all created equal, all of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that everyone deserves a chance, that even when we don’t agree with each other, we can find a way to live with each other.”

“That’s Kamala’s vision. That’s Tim’s vision. That’s the Democratic Party’s vision, and our job over the next 11 weeks is to convince as many people as possible to vote for that vision,” he said.

“Now it won’t be easy. The other side knows it’s easier to play on people’s fears and cynicism always has been. They will tell you that government is inherently corrupt, that sacrifice and generosity are for suckers, and since the game is rigged, it’s okay to take what you want and just look at your own.”

“Donald Trump and his well heeled donors…” he continued, “for them, one group’s gains is necessarily another group’s loss. For them, freedom means that the powerful can do pretty much what they please, whether it’s fire workers trying to organize a union or put poison in our rivers or avoid paying taxes, like everybody else has to do.”

“Well, we have a broader idea of freedom. who we marry, and we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours.”

He then criticized the atmosphere of polarized politics that makes people across the political spectrum “so quick to assume the worst in others, unless they agree with us on every single issue,” and prone to “thinking that the only way to win is to scold and shame and out yell the other side.”

“Now that approach may work for the politicians who just want attention and thrive on division, but it won’t work for us to make progress on the things we care about, the things that really affect people’s lives,” he said. “We we need to remember that we’ve all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices, and that if we want to win over those who aren’t yet ready to support our candidates, we need to listen to their concerns and maybe learn something in the process.”

If a friend or relative says something to make us cringe, Obama said, we don’t need to “automatically assume they’re bad people. We recognize that the world is moving fast that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up. Our fellow citizens deserve the same grace we hope they will extend to us. That that’s how we can build a true democratic majority, one that can get things done.”

He said that sense of cooperation matters to other people around the world who look to see America whether it can build the largest and most diverse democracy in history.

“I know these ideas can feel pretty naive right now we live in a time of such confusion and rancor with a culture that puts a premium on things that don’t last: money, fame, status likes. We chase the approval of strangers on our phones,” he said. “We build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves, and then we wonder why we feel so alone. We don’t trust each other as much because we don’t take the time to know each other and in that space between us, politicians and algorithms
teach us to caricature each other and troll each other and fear each other.”

“But here’s the good news, Chicago,” he added, “all across America, in big cities and small towns, away from all the noise, the ties that bind us together are still there.” He said that, no matter one’s political affiliation, all Americans have benefited from others who have helped build the country through honesty, integrity, kindness and hard work.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama

“Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it?” Mrs. Obama asked the crowd. “You know, we’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading all across this country. We love a familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for far too long.”

“You know what I’m talking about,” she continued. “It’s the contagious power of hope, the anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division and hate that have consumed us, and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nation, the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for America—hope is making a comeback.”

She then questioned whether other audience members have been sharing an unpleasant feeling recently. “A deep pit in my stomach… a palpable sense of dread about the future. And for me, that mourning has also been mixed with my own personal grief,” following the recent death of her mother, “the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice.”

“I still feel hurt,” she said, “lost so profoundly. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be steady enough to stand before you tonight. But my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense of duty that I feel to honor her memory, and to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future.”

Mrs. Obama then said that her mother, “was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations, has strengthened the fabric of this nation: the belief that if you do unto others, if you love thy neighbor, if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off, if not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren.”

She then said that Harris’ mother also raised her with similar values.

“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,” Michelle Obama said. “All of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American. No one. 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.”

“It couldn’t be more obvious of the two major candidates in this race, only Kamala Harris truly understands the unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great,” Michelle Obama continued. “Now, unfortunately, 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,” she said. “For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us see his his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard working and highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. Well, look: It’s his same old con,” she said, “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.”

“Cutting our health care, taking away our freedom to control our bodies, the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did, those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers and daughters,” Michelle Obama added, in a summation of Republican priorities. “Shutting down the Department of Education, banning our books, none of that will prepare our kids for the future. Demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love, that doesn’t make anybody’s life better.”

“Instead, it only makes us small,” she said. “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.
So why would any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office? Why would we normalize that type of backward leadership? Doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics. It only serves to further discourage good, big hearted people from wanting to get involved at all America, our parents taught us better than that, and we deserve
so much better than that.”

“That’s why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good, big hearted people,” she concluded, telling listeners not to succumb to fear and despair, but to do what they can to help get out the vote for Democrats in November.

“There is no other choice than Kamala Harris and Tim walls, no other choice,” she said. “This election is going to be close in some states, just a handful. Listen to me, a handful of votes and every precinct could decide the winner. So we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt. We need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us.”

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

Introduced by his son, Cole, Emhoff’s speech focused on his romantic and personal relationship with Harris.

He revealed that, while working as a lawyer, in 2013, one of his satisfied clients set him up on a blind date with Harris. He nervously called her phone number for the first time at 8:30 a.m. and left her a long, rambling voice message.

“I remember I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth, and for what seemed like far too many minutes, I hung up,” Emhoff said. “By the way, Kamala saved that voicemail, and she makes me listen to it on every anniversary.”

He said he fell in love quickly with Harris, adding, “She finds joy in pursuing justice. She stands up to bullies, just like my parents taught me to. She likes to see people do well, but hates when they’re treated unfairly. She believes this work requires a basic curiosity and just how people are doing. Her empathy is her strength.”

He then mentioned that their blended Jewish-Christian family sees her attending synagogue with him for high holiday services, and him going to church with her for Easter.

“I get to enjoy her mom’s chili reino recipe every Christmas, and she makes a mean brisket for Passover,” he said. While he was nervous about his own children accepting Harris as their stepmother, he said that when they began calling her “Mamala,” he knew everything would be okay between them.

“Cole and Ella’s friends knew that when they come over for Sunday dinner with Mama, it was going to be real talk,” he said. “In between taking cooking instructions, they’d have to answer questions about what problem they wanted to solve in the world, they learned that you’ve always got to be prepared, because Kamala is going to prosecute the case.”

“Kamala is a joyful warrior,” he continued. “It’s doing for her country what she has always done for the people that she loves. Her passion will benefit all of us when she’s our president. And here’s the thing about joyful warriors, there are still warriors, and Kamala is as tough as it comes, just ask the criminals.”

“She never runs from a fight,” he added, “and she knows the best way to deal with a coward is to take him head on, because we all know cowards are weak, and Kamala Harris can smell weakness. She doesn’t tolerate any BS. You’ve all seen that look, and you know that look I’m talking about— that look is not just a meme. It reflects our true belief in honest and direct leadership, and it’s also why she will not be distracted by nonsense. Kamala knows that in order to win, we cannot lose focus.”

“She’ll lead from the belief that wherever we come from, whatever we look like, we’re strongest when we fight for what we believe in, not just against what we fear,” he said shortly before ending his speech.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL)

Billionaire Gov. Pritzker, who was considered a possible candidate as Harris’ running mate, began his speech by stating that Illinois claims former Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama (who both represented the state in Congress), and now Vice President Harris as one of their own because she spent part of her early life in the upper-midwest cities of Urbana and Evanston.

However, Pritzker said, “One president we will never claim is the con artist the Republicans nominated in Milwaukee last month.

He then said, “Donald Trump once called Chicago embarrassing…. We take that personally. And I had to govern for two years while Trump was president. Let me tell you what’s embarrassing: In Illinois, we passed a massive bill to fix our roads and bridges. When Donald Trump proposed his own plan, he turned right around and called it ‘stupid.’”

“Donald Trump thinks that we should trust him on the economy, because he claims to be very rich. But take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity,” he said. “Now I meet with business leaders all the time, and there’s one universal thing: They all need people. They need more workers to fill all the jobs they have. But the anti-freedom, anti-family policies of MAGA Republicans are driving workers away.”

“Here’s the thing,” he continued, “Americans don’t want to be forced to drive 100 miles for a baby because a draconian abortion law shut down the maternity ward. Americans want the hope of giving birth through IVF, not the fear that it might be taken away. Americans with LGBTQ kids don’t want them facing discrimination at school because the state sanctioned it. Americans want to go to their neighborhood grocery store and not have to worry about some random guy open carrying an AR-15. Americans don’t want their kids to be taught in history class that slavery was a jobs program. And if Americans are Black or brown, they want to get promoted at work without being derided as ‘a DEI hire’ for the sin of being successful while not white.”

Pritzker’s line about state sanctioned discrimination against LGBTQ+ kids is a likely reference to Republican efforts to remove transgender-inclusive policies from schools and to eliminate queer content from school libraries and classrooms. Similarly, Republicans have also targeted DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) programs, leading to the shutdown of diversity and cultural centers at colleges and in government workforce trainings. Such censorship denies the different cultural needs and lived experiences of different U.S. demographic groups.

“We think the government should help you prosper, not police who you’re sleeping with,” Pritzker continued. “More than anything, Democrats want economic policies that are kind, not cruel, but Trump chooses cruelty every time. After all, everything he’s achieved in his own life has been by hurting someone else.”

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, well, they’ve spent their lives lifting people up, not pushing them down,” Pritzker said. “They know that a White House that leads with kindness looks at someone who is struggling and sees not what they might cost society, but what they might create for it.”

“We have a choice, America,” he said near the end of his speech, “between the man who left our country a total mess and the woman who has spent four years cleaning it up. And I think it’s time we stop expecting women to clean up messes without the authority and the title to match the job.”

“Vice President was a good title for Kamala Harris, but you know, an even better one: President of the United States of America,” he said. “Let’s go get him.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT)

Sen. Sanders began his speech by reminding listeners of the grim situation that the Biden-Harris Administration faced as they entered the Oval Office three and a half years ago.

“We were in the midst of the worst public health crisis in 100 years and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. 3,000 Americans were dying every day, and our hospitals were overwhelmed with COVID patients all across the country,” he said. “Businesses were shutting down. Unemployment was soaring. Workers were losing their health insurance. Schools were closing, state and city budgets were running out of money. People were being evicted from their homes. Children in America were going hungry.”

Within two months of taking office, Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, which provided $1,400 for every man, woman and child in the working class, extended and expanded benefits for the unemployed, provided emergency assistance for small businesses to stay open, and provided rent relief and mortgage assistance to keep tenants and homeowners from being evicted. This, along with the largest expansion of Medicaid in history and emergency food programs for hungry children and the elderly, helped “a nation suffering, a nation frightened and people looking to their government for support,” Sanders said.

“When the political will is there, government can effectively deliver for the people of our country,” he continued, “and now we need to summon that will again, because too many of our. Fellow Americans are struggling every day to just get by.”

“My fellow Americans, when 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, the top 1% have never, ever had it so good,” he said. “And these oligarchs, these oligarchs tell us we shouldn’t tax the rich. The oligarchs tell us we shouldn’t take on price gouging. We shouldn’t expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision, and we shouldn’t increase Social Security benefits for struggling seniors. Well, I’ve got some bad news for them: That is precisely what we are going to do, and we’re going to win this struggle, because this is precisely what the American people want from their government.”

He then said that “for sake of our democracy,” the U.S. must overturn the “disastrous” 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision which allows corporations and outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.

“We need to join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to all people as a human right, not a privilege,” he said, before stressing other needs, like raising the minimum wage to “a living wage,” ensuring laborers can safely organize unions at their workplaces, strengthening public education, raising teachers salaries, ensuring Americans can get a higher education without massive debt, and cutting prescription drug costs.

“Let us be very clear,” he said, “this is not a radical agenda,” adding, “But let me tell you what a radical agenda is, and that is Trump’s Project 2025. At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, giving more tax breaks to billionaires is radical, putting forth budgets to cut Social Security Medicare and Medicaid is radical, letting polluters destroy our planet is radical. And my friends, we won’t let that happen.”

“We must summon the courage to stand up to wealth and power and deliver justice for people at home and abroad,” he said near his speech’s conclusion. “Abroad, we must end this horrific war in Gaza. Bring home the hostages and demand an immediate ceasefire.”

As such, Sanders was one of the few DNC speakers to explicitly mention Isreal’s ongoing military attacks on Palestinians in Gaza.

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-PA)

Kenyatta made history in 2020 as one of the first out gay speakers at a Democratic National Convention. This year, he brought a copy of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the 900-page blueprint for gutting federal agencies and undoing longstanding civil rights under a second Trump presidency.

“It’s interesting, because usually Republicans want to ban books, but now they’re trying to shove this down our throats,” he said while holding the large bound copy of the plan.

“On page 465, Project 2025 would stop Medicare from negotiating to lower the price of prescription drugs and capping out of pocket costs,” he added. “And on page 587, Project 2025 would cut overtime pay for hardworking Americans.”

“As long as we have been fighting to make America work for working families, there have been greedy corporate interests trying to take us back,” he continued.

He then said that, in 2019, his grandmother, who he referred to as “a civil rights warrior,” called him, and said in a cracking voice, “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. I thought my generation had fixed this, and here you are fighting the same battles.”

However, the told the DNC audience that he responded to her by saying, “It’s okay, Grandma, it’s just our turn. It’s just our turn to stand up for working people and to stand up for our nation’s promise. It’s just our turn to defend our rights and to ensure that democracy doesn’t die on our watch.”

“It’s our turn to make history, my friends,” he concluded, “by electing Kamala Harris.”

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