When Democrats make a case against Donald Trump, they tend to focus on many of the former president’s worst qualities. The party and its officials eagerly remind voters that the Republican is dangerous and radical, dishonest and corrupt, ignorant and hateful. The assessments, of course, are rooted in fact.
But one of the striking things about the respective Democratic National Convention speeches from Michelle and Barack Obama was their willingness to make a different kind of case against the GOP nominee: Trump, the Obamas effectively argued, is small and tiresome.
From the former first lady’s remarks:
“[Kamala Harris] 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. 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 a business — if we bankrupt a 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. We put our heads down. We get to work. In America, we do something.”
Subtle, it was not.
To be sure, both of the Obamas spent the bulk of their speeches touting the incumbent vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and the Democratic ticket’s vision, but some of the most memorable parts of their remarks were their takedowns of the Republican candidate.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” the former first lady added. “See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black. I want to know, who’s going to tell him that the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?
“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.
“Look, because cutting our health care, taking away our freedom to control our bodies, the freedom to become a mother through I.V.F., like I did — those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers and daughters. 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, look, that doesn’t make anybody’s life better. Instead, instead, 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.”
If there was a time when Michelle Obama pulled her punches, that time has passed.
Her husband’s assessment dovetailed nicely with hers.
“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,” the former president said. “It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually been getting worse now that he is 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. The other day, I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day.” When Obama referenced Trump’s weird obsession with crowd sizes, pay particular attention to what he did with his hands: President Obama: It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that Trump is afraid of losing to Kamala. The childish nicknames and crazy conspiracy theories and weird obsession with crowd sizes 🤏 pic.twitter.com/cstJYrpiCg “Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided: between us and them, between the real Americans who, of course, support him and the outsiders who don’t,” Obama added. “And he wants you to think that you’ll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place. It is one of the oldest tricks in politics, from a guy whose act has — let’s face it — gotten pretty stale. 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.” As eviscerations go, the Obamas weren’t just pitch-perfect, they also delivered remarks that won’t soon be forgotten.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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