Former first lady Michelle Obama delivered an inspiring speech to end the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention on Monday.
In her nearly 19-minute remarks, Obama condemned Trump’s divisiveness, ineptitude and “utter lack of empathy.” She urged Americans to show up to the polls in November to vote for Joe Biden.
“Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” Obama said in a video address recorded ahead of the convention. “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.”
She added: “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.”
“If we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election … We have got to do everything we can to elect my friend, Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States.”
“It is up to us to add our voices and our votes to the course of history, echoing heroes like John Lewis who said, ‘When you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.’ That is the truest form of empathy.”
“We have got to grab our comfortable shoes, put on our masks, pack a brown bag dinner and maybe breakfast too, because we’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night if we have to.”
“We have to vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored. Because right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting … This is not the time to withhold our votes in protest.”
“We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight, and send them back immediately and follow-up to make sure they’re received. And then, make sure our friends and families do the same.”
If we want to end the chaos and division—and keep alive the possibility of progress on the issues we hold dear—we’ve got to vote for @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris like our lives depend on it. Register today by texting VOTE to 30330. https://t.co/xPu5o0SYLJ
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) August 18, 2020