WASHINGTON: A scorching takedown of Donald Trump by power couple Michelle and Barack Obama lit up the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday as party nominee Kamala Harris continued to ride on a wave of glowing endorsements, including from a growing number of Republicans.
In one of the most incandescent moments ever for minorities at a major political gala, the former First Lady brought the roof down on the United Center by recalling the torment Trump had inflicted on the Obamas, topping it with a humiliating smackdown of the Republican nominee.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working highly educated successful people who happened to be Black…who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs?’” she asked snippily, as the diverse party base erupted in celebration at the insult.
Trump, who baited the Obamas for many years by questioning whether the former President was born in the US (while his supporters had impugned Michelle’s femininity), had recently argued that illegal immigrants were taking away “black jobs” in an effort to win black votes.
The former first lady also blasted Trump as the “same old con” who was doubling down on “ugly, misogynistic racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make peoples’ lives better.”
Speaking after his wife, Barack Obama compounded the insults, calling Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago” and warning “We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse.”
“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,” Obama added, mimicking Trump’s trademark gesture that resembles playing an invisible accordion — except he made it very small.
The slight, delivered with comedic timing and a deadpan expression, electrified social media, with one prominent radio host asking “Did he just make a penis joke?”
Ironically, it was Obama’s public humiliation of Trump at a White House Correspondent’s’ Association event in 2011 that led Trump to enter the Presidential race in 2015. Referring to Trump’s birther conspiracy, Obama had taunted him that now that he (Obama) had produced a birth certificate proving he was born in the US, Trump “can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter like, did we fake the moon landing?” Others at the meeting later said Trump was furious at the slight and the latest roasting is certain to bring out the worst in Trump, if there is more.
Ironically too, the Obamas takedown of Trump came hours after he made rare complimentary remarks about the former first couple. “I like him, I think he’s a nice gentleman, but he was very very weak on trade…I respect him and I respect his wife,” Trump said of the Obamas on the sidelines of a low-key campaign event in Michigan on Tuesday.
The Obamas roasting of Trump came on top of other exposes and barbs, including a former Trump aide revealing that “when the cameras were off, behind closed doors, Trump mocks his supporters… he calls them basement dwellers.”
“On a hospital visit one time when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad that the cameras were not watching him. He has no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth,” former White House press secretary Stephanie Graham said, adding, “He used to tell me ‘it doesn’t matter what you say Stephanie, say it enough and people will believe you.’ But it does matter.”
Democrats also taunted Trump about his obsession with wealth, with the host Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, whose family owns Hyatt hotels, saying, “Donald Trump thinks that we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be very rich, but take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity.”
In one of the most incandescent moments ever for minorities at a major political gala, the former First Lady brought the roof down on the United Center by recalling the torment Trump had inflicted on the Obamas, topping it with a humiliating smackdown of the Republican nominee.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working highly educated successful people who happened to be Black…who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs?’” she asked snippily, as the diverse party base erupted in celebration at the insult.
Trump, who baited the Obamas for many years by questioning whether the former President was born in the US (while his supporters had impugned Michelle’s femininity), had recently argued that illegal immigrants were taking away “black jobs” in an effort to win black votes.
The former first lady also blasted Trump as the “same old con” who was doubling down on “ugly, misogynistic racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make peoples’ lives better.”
Speaking after his wife, Barack Obama compounded the insults, calling Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago” and warning “We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse.”
“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,” Obama added, mimicking Trump’s trademark gesture that resembles playing an invisible accordion — except he made it very small.
The slight, delivered with comedic timing and a deadpan expression, electrified social media, with one prominent radio host asking “Did he just make a penis joke?”
Ironically, it was Obama’s public humiliation of Trump at a White House Correspondent’s’ Association event in 2011 that led Trump to enter the Presidential race in 2015. Referring to Trump’s birther conspiracy, Obama had taunted him that now that he (Obama) had produced a birth certificate proving he was born in the US, Trump “can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter like, did we fake the moon landing?” Others at the meeting later said Trump was furious at the slight and the latest roasting is certain to bring out the worst in Trump, if there is more.
Ironically too, the Obamas takedown of Trump came hours after he made rare complimentary remarks about the former first couple. “I like him, I think he’s a nice gentleman, but he was very very weak on trade…I respect him and I respect his wife,” Trump said of the Obamas on the sidelines of a low-key campaign event in Michigan on Tuesday.
The Obamas roasting of Trump came on top of other exposes and barbs, including a former Trump aide revealing that “when the cameras were off, behind closed doors, Trump mocks his supporters… he calls them basement dwellers.”
“On a hospital visit one time when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad that the cameras were not watching him. He has no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth,” former White House press secretary Stephanie Graham said, adding, “He used to tell me ‘it doesn’t matter what you say Stephanie, say it enough and people will believe you.’ But it does matter.”
Democrats also taunted Trump about his obsession with wealth, with the host Illinois governor, JB Pritzker, whose family owns Hyatt hotels, saying, “Donald Trump thinks that we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be very rich, but take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity.”