Obamas Spotlight Trump’s Monstrous Ego From DNC Stage

Former President Barack Obama implored Democrats in Chicago Tuesday night to vote instead of boo, right after his wife challenged the crowd to “do something” to fight their dread of another four years of Donald Trump from becoming a reality.

“I’m feeling fired up! I’m feeling ready to go—even if I’m the only person stupid enough to speak right after Michelle Obama,” he said to an overflowing, adoring crowd inside the arena at the Democratic National Convention.

His wife, the former first lady, said Republican nominee Donald Trump was “doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better.”

Her husband then proceeded to compare and contrast Kamala Harris and his successor, Donald Trump, whom he characterized as a selfish, “childish” man whose own ego far outstripped any call to serve the people of the United States.

“This is a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago,” the former two-term president said of the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, who has inflated and misstated his true wealth.

“He wants you to think that you’ll be richer and safer if you just give him the power to put those ‘other’ people back in their place,” Obama said, making an implicit reference to his race and that of others who make up the base of the Democratic Party. “It’s one of the oldest tricks in politics—from a guy whose act has gotten pretty stale.”

The audience of Democrats felt electric and laser-focused, hanging on Obama’s every word, laughing at his jokes and waving “Vote” signs in the air as they cheered and cried.

“We don’t need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos; we have seen that movie before—and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse,” the former president said, to cacophonous laughter.

Obama, 63, noted that much has changed in American society in the 16 years since he became the Democratic presidential nominee with the world moving online and people further apart.

“We live in a time of such confusion and rancor with a culture that puts a premium on things that don’t last—money, fame, status, likes. We chase the approval of strangers on our phones,” Obama said. “We build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then wonder why we feel so alone. We don’t trust each other as much because we don’t take the time to know each other—and in that space between us, politicians and algorithms teach us to caricature each other and troll each other, and fear each other.”

Unlike other speakers on the second day of the convention, Obama gave a shout-out to President Joe Biden, the now-former 2024 Democratic presidential nominee who passed the baton to his vice president.

“I can say without question that my first big decision as your nominee turned out to be one of my best—and that was asking Joe Biden to serve by my side as vice president,” he said. “Thank you Joe!” chants boomed throughout the hall.

In his first digression from his five-and-a-half single-spaced pages of prepared remarks, Obama praised “all the memes” that had already been part of the campaign, an apparent reference to the coconut tree craze that has taken hold of the internet.

When Obama brought up Donald Trump’s “weird obsession with crowd sizes” the crowd laughed then roared with applause, to show they were actually the largest audience. Obama—whose wife’s famous line “When they go low, we go high” has become a party rejoinder—sought to quell the negativity.

“Do not boo,” he said. “Vote.”

He touted his signature policy achievement, the Affordable Care Act, and railed against Republicans who tried but failed to outlaw the health care act named for the 44th president of the United States. “I’ve noticed, by the way, since it’s become popular,” he said, “they don’t call it Obamacare no more.”

He promised that Harris would be a president who would care about essential workers and stand up for fair pay and working conditions. He started a “Yes she can!” chant that rang through the arena.

Obama waxed poetic about Democrats’ belief in freedom and the importance of mutual respect, even among Americans with political disagreements.

“If we want to win over those who aren’t yet ready to support our candidate, we need to listen to their concerns—and maybe learn something in the process.”