Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered a gloomy pre-taped speech at the Democrat National Convention on Monday, lamenting the state of the country under President Donald Trump.
“You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation,” she said during her speech endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden for president.
Obama began her speech with a serious tone, focusing on the coronavirus pandemic and the jaded feeling in the country about politics.
“Its a hard time and everyone’s feeling it different ways,” she began, acknowledging that it was “hard to tune into a political convention right now or politics in general.”
Obama also claimed that because she was a black woman, some people would automatically discount her message and her endorsement of Biden.
“Now, I understand that my message won’t be heard by some people,” she said. “We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a black woman speaking at a Democratic convention.”
Obama also spoke about the pain of watching President Donald Trump winning in 2016 despite losing the popular vote, knowing that so many Democrats in key battleground states did not vote. She said:
Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.
Obama pointedly noted that she loved her country “with all my heart,” but she said that Americans continue to struggle with injustice, racism, and pain.
“They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin,” she said.
Obama blamed President Trump for taking what she described as a successful presidency under her husband, President Barack Obama, and making it worse.
“Four years later, the state of this nation is very different. More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long,” she said.
She accused Trump of emboldening “torch-bearing white supremacists,” throwing “kids in cages,” and pepper-spraying “peaceful protesters” for a “photo op.”
“Sadly this is the America that is on display for the next generation,” she said, noting that America was failing on “matters of character.”
“That is not just disappointing, it’s downright infuriating,” she continued.
The former first lady endorsed Biden, telling voters they should vote as if their lives depended on the results of the 2020 election.
“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,” she said.
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