Trump 'wrong' president for US: Michelle Obama

August 18, 2020 17:59

Michelle Obama has ripped through Donald Trump at the opening of the Democratic National Convention, saying he is the "wrong president for our country" and urged Americans to vote for his challenger Joe Biden "like our lives depend on it."

In an emotional recorded message to the convention, the former US first lady said last four years had been difficult to explain to America's children.

"They see our leaders labelling fellow citizens enemies of the state, while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists," she said.

The four-day Democratic National Convention was initially scheduled to be held in Wisconsin but it began virtually on Monday amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

Former vice president Biden, 77, is challenging 74-year-old Trump, a Republican in the November 3 presidential election.

Senator Kamala Harris, 55, is all set to be formally nominated by the DNC as the first-ever Black as well as the first-ever American of Indian and African descent as a vice presidential candidate by a major political party.

Launching a blistering attack on Trump, Obama said children are torn from their families and thrown into cages and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protests for a photo op.

"Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. 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," 56-year-old Obama said in a poignant political speech.

Taking a swipe at Trump's presidency, she urged those who did not come out to vote in 2016 to make their vote count this time.

Obama said the country has been "living with the consequences" since the 2016 election results.

She said her message is likely to be unheard by some people as "we live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic convention".

Obama cautioned that if Americans 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".

Obama said the job of the president is hard and it "requires clear-headed judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a devotion to facts and history, a moral compass, and an ability to listenand an abiding belief that each of the 330,000,000 lives in this country has meaning and worth".

"A president's words have the power to move markets. They can start wars or broker peace. They can summon our better angels or awaken our worst instincts. You simply cannot fake your way through this job," the former first lady said. -- PTI

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