Michelle Obama, the former First Lady and one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, delivered one of the Democratic National Convention’s most emphatic takedowns of former President Donald Trump on Tuesday night and turned one of his most controversial campaign lines against him: “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” she said.

Michelle Obama enthralled a packed arena in Chicago with a convention appearance that lent firepower to Vice-President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. She offered support and praise for Harris, but focused much of her nearly 20-minute speech squarely on Trump.

And for a speech delivered at a political convention, her remarks struck a remarkably personal tone as she spoke of the former President, who led a multi-year campaign to question the birthplace of her husband, Barack Obama.

“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” she said, adding that “his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.”

She zeroed in on his debate-night complaint about immigrants taking “Black jobs” by pointing out that the presidency of the US has been one and might soon be again.

She said Americans like Harris understood “that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward”, a reference to Trump’s business troubles. She noted that most Americans do not grow up with “the affirmative action of generational wealth”. ( Trump was born into a wealthy family in Queens.)

“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,” she said. Obama’s speech, delivered with a clear voice as she looked straight into the camera to address Americans watching at home, was not saccharine.

And it is Obama who coined a famous phrase adopted by the party during the 2016 campaign: “When they go low, we go high,” she said 8 years ago. On Tuesday evening, she delivered an update of sorts: “Going small is never the answer,” she said. “Small is petty, it’s unhealthy and, frankly, it’s unpresidential.”

New York Times News Service