2020 Democratic convention: Michelle Obama urges Americans to dump Trump in scathing attack
- The Democratic National Convention kicks off, seeking to present the party as the direct opposite of President Donald Trump
- The opening night of the four-day convention was capped by a keynote speech from former first lady Michelle Obama
Democrats unleashed sharp attacks on US President Donald Trump as the party opened its virtual convention on Monday with a range of speakers including four moderate Republicans and Bernie Sanders, who urged voters to join them in supporting Joe Biden for president.
The most-anticipated moment of the convention’s first night was a video address from former first lady Michelle Obama that delivered a personal endorsement of Biden, who served for eight years as her husband’s vice-president.
“Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy,” Obama said, adding Trump was “in over his head” as president.
“So if you take one thing from my words tonight, it is this: if you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election. If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.”
She then used Trump’s now infamous “it is what it is” quotation about Covid-19 deaths to assess his performance as president.
“He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us,” Obama said with a shake of her head. “It is what it is.”