PHILADELPHIA — First Lady Michelle Obama panned Donald Trump for his “Make America Great Again” slogan and effusively praised Hillary Clinton during her highly anticipated speech before the Democratic National Convention Monday night.
Before a raucous crowd, Obama lavished praise upon Clinton, particularly for not getting “angry or disillusioned” after her 2008 primary loss to her husband and fading into the background.
“When she didn’t win the nomination eight years ago, she didn’t get angry or disillusioned,” Obama said of Clinton. “Hillary did not pack up and go home because as a true public servant, Hillary knows that this is so much bigger than her own desires and disappointments.”
“There were plenty of moments that Hillary could have decided that this work was too hard,” Obama said of Clinton’s tenure at the state department. “That the price of public service was too high, that she tired of being picked apart for how she looks or how she talks — even how she laughs.”
It was her barbs against Trump that made the most waves. Specifically, she hit his slogan, while also calling into question his temperament, pointing to “snap decisions” a president must make as well as his Twitter habits.
“Don’t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn’t great,” the first lady told the crowd, who waved “Michelle” signs in the form of state delegation posts. “That some how we need to make it great again, because this right now is the greatest country on earth.”
“I want someone with the proven strength to persevere. Someone who knows this job and takes it seriously. Someone that understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white,” Obama said before delivering the punch line. “They cannot be boiled down to 140 characters. Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions. You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You have to be steady and measured and well-informed.”
Throughout the speech, Obama praised the former first lady for being an example for her daughters and thanking her for continuing to put cracks in the “highest and hardest glass ceiling,” referring to Clinton’s 2008 concession speech.
“Leaders like Hillary Clinton, who has the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting the cracks in the highest and hardest glass ceiling,” Obama said, noting later that it’s time for a female president. “And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all of our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.”
This was Obama’s third primetime address at the DNC, having delivered speeches in 2008 and 2012.
