Barack Obama at DNC: 'Do Not Boo. Vote'

Two decades after making his national debut on a Democratic National Convention stage, Barack Obama closed out the second night of the DNC on Tuesday in Chicago, a city particularly meaningful to the former president.

• Saying Americans want to know who is thinking about their future and their children's futures, Obama noted Donald Trump isn't losing sleep over those concerns. "Here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago," he said. "It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that is getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to Kamala. There's the childish nicknames. The crazy conspiracy theories. This weird obsession with crowd sizes."
• He said someone recently told him Trump is like a neighbor who constantly runs his leaf blower. "From a neighbor, that's exhausting. From a president, it's just dangerous," Obama said. "The truth is, Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to his ends."

• He went on to tout Harris' accomplishments and what she will achieve should she become president, promising she would not worry only about her own interests, as Obama accused Trump of doing, but about what's best for all Americans.
• As the crowd booed while Obama talked about Trump, Obama said sternly, "Do not boo. Vote."
• Of Harris' running mate Tim Walz, Obama said, "Let me tell you something, I love this guy. Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics. Born in a small town, served his country, taught kids, coached football. ... You can tell those flannel shirts that he wears don't come from some political consultant. They come from his closet—and they have been through some stuff."
• "I noticed, by the way, that since it's become popular, they don't call it ObamaCare no more," Obama said after a mention of the Affordable Care Act received enthusiastic applause.
• "Yes, she can," Obama said of Harris at one point, prompting a round of "Yes she can!" chants from the crowd.
• "If a parent or grandparent occasionally says something that makes us cringe, we don't automatically assume that they're bad people," he said, noting that "the world is moving fast" and some people need time to "catch up." He urged Democrats to extend the same grace to those on the other side of the political aisle as they would want extended to them.
• "If we each do our part over the next 77 days ... if we work like we've never worked before, if we hold firm to our convictions, we will elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States," he said. "So let's get to work."

• Before Obama spoke, his wife did. "Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn't it?" Michelle Obama asked the crowd, per the AP. "America, hope is making a comeback."
• The former first lady also took her own shots at Trump. "His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black," she said. "Who's going to tell him that the job he's seeking might be one of those 'Black jobs'?"

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