In a night loaded with sympathy for lives lost due to the coronavirus pandemic, anti-President Donald Trump rhetoric and an emphasis to “build back better” by exercising the right to vote, former first lady Michelle Obama stole the virtual stage through her pre-recorded speech aired at the end of the first night of the Democratic National Convention.

Obama, wearing a necklace with the word “vote” spelled out, launched attacks at Trump questioning his character and overall ability to perform as a president in perhaps the most political speech she’s given in her career.

“Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” Obama said. “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.”

“Sadly, this is the America that is on display for the next generation,” she said. “A nation that’s underperforming not simply on matters of policy, but on matters of character. And that’s not just disappointing; it’s downright infuriating because I know the goodness and the grace that is out there in households and neighborhoods all across this nation.”

Obama continued to say, “we know that what’s going on in this country is just not right.”

The former first lady added to her argument by referencing her famous convention speech just four years ago, where she introduced the phrase: When they go low, we go high.

“Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, ‘When others are going so low, does going high still really work?’ My answer: Going high is the only thing that works because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that’s drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves. We degrade the very causes for which we fight," Obama said.

“Going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty. Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top,” she added.

Trump responded to Obama’s fierce speech twice Tuesday Morning.

“Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama,” Trump tweeted.

Trump also later bashed Obama at a White House event for pre-recording the speech, instead of speaking live to the virtual audience and for not mentioning Joe Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), once in the video.

The speech, however, was reportedly taped prior to Biden’s vice presidential announcement.

The purpose of convention events is to nominate and commemorate the presumptive Democratic nominee, but Obama didn’t even say Biden’s name until halfway through her eighteen-minute speech.

“Now, Joe is not perfect. And he’d be the first to tell you that. But there is no perfect candidate, no perfect president,” Obama said.

She continued the case for Biden—who will accept the party’s presidential nomination Thursday—by applauding his empathy, “humility and maturity.” 

Obama also reiterated during her speech that she loathes politics but insisted that America must “make a change in this election,” considering the current violent and chaotic state of the country that’s being exposed to “our children.”

“They see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else,” she said.

Obama has been a high-profile and admirable figure on both sides of the aisle for her ability to influence and inspire Americans, especially young adults. Obama was one of many prominent speakers of the night, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R).

“If we want to keep the possibility of progress alive in our time, if we want to be able to look our children in the eye after this election, we have got to reassert our place in American history. And we have got to do everything we can to elect my friend, Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States,” she concluded.

Rachel Bucchino is a reporter at the National Interest. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report and The Hill.

Image: Reuters