Michelle Obama puts spotlight on Biden’s character
Michelle Obama called Joe Biden a “profoundly decent man” who will “tell the truth and trust science” in her Monday night convention speech, seeking to draw a sharp contrast between President Trump and her husband’s twoterm vice president.
“He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic and lead our country,” Mrs. Obama says in an advance excerpt of her speech. “He will make smart plans and manage a good team, and he will govern as someone who’s lived a life that the rest of us can recognize.”
It’s part of what longtime adviser Valerie Jarrett says is “very personal” for the former first lady.
Trump succeeded Barack Obama in 2017 and promptly set out to undo many of Obama’s achievements on health care, the environment and foreign policy, among others. Trump also routinely criticizes Obama’s job performance. On Monday, Trump took a dig at the former first lady’s speech, noting that her remarks were prerecorded and that his own speech at the Republican National Convention next week will be live.
“Who wants to listen to Michelle Obama do a taped speech?” he said at a rally in Wisconsin.
Biden’s sense of empathy was also a key talking point.
Tragedy has followed Biden, from the deaths of his first wife and baby daughter after he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, to the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015.
Mrs. Obama, who leads an effort to help register people to vote, also spoke of the importance of voting in the Nov. 3 election, which will take place amid a coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 170,000 Americans and infected more than 5 million in the U.S.