On Tuesday night, the Democratic National Convention in Chicago saw a double Obama Punch. Former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama delivered speeches, urging Americans to vote for Kamala Harris. Harris is up against Republican Donald Trump in her 11th-hour presidential bid.
Obama, America’s first black President, is vouching for Harris as she seeks to make history herself. If she wins, she will be the first woman and first black and South Asian person to be elected U.S. President on Nov. 5.
Obama, taking a dig at Trump said, “We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. 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,” he added.
Obama then praised President Joe Biden, his vice president who was forced out of the 2024 race. Democratic allies feared that he would lose to Trump in November.
BLACK JOBS
Barack was introduced at the event by his wife, Michelle. “America, hope is making a comeback,” she said, in a nod to Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008. She said that Trump will try to distort Harris’ truth.
“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking people. People who are highly educated, successful and who also happened to be Black,” she said to deafening applause.
In a dig at Trump, Michelle went on to say, “who’s going to tell him that the job he seeks might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” During a campaign, Trump referred to migrants crossing into the U.S. as taking away “Black jobs.”
Trump has shown similar patterns of attacks during his political career. He sought racist attacks on Obama’s citizenship status and is doing so on Harris.
HARRIS MOMENTUM
Harris’ presidential campaign has ridden a historic whirlwind. It broke records for fundraising and packed arenas with supporters.
Harris joined Obama and Michelle virtually from a campaign rally in Milwaukee. Delegates in Chicago raised signs saying “FREEDOM” that mirrored those raised by her supporters at the Wisconsin rally.
In her speech, Harris criticized Trump for saying he had no regrets about the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling. The ruling overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had recognized women’s constitutional right to abortion. Three Trump-appointed justices joined a 6-3 majority on the high court.
Democrats see abortion rights as a winning issue in this campaign and Harris had led the charge as vice president.
(With inputs from Reuters)
