Former first lady Michelle Obama gave the most inspiration and personal speech on Day 1 of DNC 2020 as she gave her endorsement to Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.
However, in Obama’s almost 20-minutes long speech, nothing was heard of about her thoughts on Biden’s VP ticket, Kamala Harris. Instead, the second half of her keynote address was dedicated to describing Biden’s personality.
Obama did have firsthand experience working with Biden, as her husband’s, Barack Obama’s Vice-President for eight years. But why was Biden’s VP ticket not mentioned in anywhere of the former first lady’s speech?
Obama did not purposely opt-out on Kamala Harris
Per The Associated Press, Michelle Obama’s impassioned speech was recorded days before Biden officially announced his running mate. Readers should note that the Democrat’s Presidential candidate only made his announcement on Tuesday last week.
Since the 2020 DNC was done virtually, Obama’s speech must have been prepped long before the VP announcement. Per New York Post, this only goes to show that Biden’s Kamala Harris pick was done “so close to the vest and down to the wire” that the Obama’s weren’t even kept on the loop.
Nevertheless, the former publication pointed out that Obama spoke highly of Harris on her social media accounts, such as on Facebook and on Instagram. She posted a picture of the Senator, days after she was named the Democrat’s VP pick.
She praised Harris for being the “first Black woman and first Asian-American woman on a major party’s presidential ticket.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CD1zRSJANkN/
Michelle Obama’s endorsement essential to Biden’s campaign?
Despite hating politics, per her speech, Obama’s endorsement is said to play an important role in Biden’s presidential campaign. Accordingly, her voice during the opening night of DNC 2020 was reportedly integral, per longtime adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Jarrett told The Associated Press, “I think her hope is they will trust her, and that this isn’t about politics. This is about the future of our country.”
Let’s ride Michelle Obama’s wave of hope all day today. No matter what that dude in the White House says or does.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) August 18, 2020
The key difference between today’s speech and the past two DNC addresses is that she is “better known now.” The news publication cites the millions of people around the world who have read her best-selling memoir titled Becoming.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump already took aim on Michelle Obama. During his campaign rally in Wisconsin, he asked: “Who wants to listen to Michelle Obama do a taped speech?”
The current POTUS then proceeded to say that during the Republican National Convention next week, his speech won’t be pre-recorded like Obama’s, but will instead be live.
Featured image courtesy of Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock