Former United States President Barack Obama told fellow Democrats in Chicago on Tuesday that “the torch has been passed” to Kamala Harris, and the United States was ready for her to become president. Obama, who was greeted with rapturous applause and cheers, said Vice President Harris would fight for Americans and called her November poll rival Donald Trump “dangerous.”
“Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a person who has spent her life fighting for people who need a voice,” Obama said. He called Harris “someone who sees you and hears you and will get up every single day and fight for you.” “Yes she can,” Obama said of Harris, prompting the crowd to repeatedly chant the phrase.
Before Obama’s speech, his wife and former US first lady Michelle Obama told convention goers “something magically wonderful is in the air.” “It’s the contagious power of hope,” she said, calling Harris “my girl” and saying that hope “is making a comeback.”
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Harris’s husband, told the convention “she is ready.” “She brings both joy and toughness to this task,” he said to cheers. “At this moment in our nation’s history, she is exactly the right president.”
President Joe Biden, who delivered an emotional speech late Monday, said “It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job, but I love my country more.” Obama called Biden an “outstanding president” who had “defended democracy at a moment of great danger.”
Trump, on the other hand, attacked Harris’s stance on crime, saying “You can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread — you get shot.” He falsely claimed there has been a 43 percent increase in violent crime.
