Former First Lady Michelle Obama made an impassioned appeal to Americans to cast their vote for the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden during the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
“If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election,” Obama said. “If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.”
She went on to call Biden a “profoundly decent man, guided by faith” and a “terrific vice president” who knows how to govern and do the job of the president.
“Joe is not perfect. And he’d be the first to tell you that. But there is no perfect candidate, no perfect president. And his ability to learn and grow—we find in that the kind of humility and maturity that so many of us yearn for right now,” she said.
She continued:
“He wants all of our kids to be able to go to a movie or a math class without being afraid of getting shot. He wants all our kids to grow up with leaders who won’t just serve themselves and their wealthy peers but will provide a safety net for people facing hard times.”
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To ensure that Americans have a chance to “pursue any of these goals,” she called on voters to “vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored.”
“Because right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting. They’re closing down polling places in minority neighborhoods. They’re purging voter rolls. They’re sending people out to intimidate voters, and they’re lying about the security of our ballots,” she said.
Additionally, she urged Americans to request, fill out, and send back their mail-in ballots as soon as possible to ensure they are delivered by the deadline for them to be received and counted.
Obama admitted that Americans have “already sacrificed so much this year” but touted the essential workers in grocery stores and hospitals who were on the front lines of the pandemic.
“And when the horrors of systemic racism shook our country and our consciences, millions of Americans of every age, every background rose up to march for each other, crying out for justice and progress,” she said, adding, “This is who we still are: compassionate, resilient, decent people whose fortunes are bound up with one another.”
Finally, she said, “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.”
