Former President Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night in an impassioned address urging voters not to give up on the democratic process—and imploring them to participate in it.
The 20 minute speech was one of the President's most direct indictments of President Donald Trump's first term in office, with Obama asserting that Trump will never grow to meet the immensity of the office.
Watch below.
Former Pres. Obama on Pres. Trump:
"He's shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends ... Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job, because he can't." pic.twitter.com/XaXfaj9jcH
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 20, 2020
Obama said of Trump:
"I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously. That he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did ... He's shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends ... Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job, because he can't, and the consequences of that failure are severe."
Trump only proved Obama right when he began firing off tweets in all-caps, reacting to Obama's speech in real time.
HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2020
Trump yet again falsely accused Obama of spying on his campaign, and chastised Obama for not endorsing Biden until he was already the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Democratic nominee (and Obama's Vice President) Joe Biden didn't hesitate to point out that Trump only cemented Obama's point.
“Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't." https://t.co/TB3o7KE6GI
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 20, 2020
As Obama's character was on display in the convention, so too was Trump's on Twitter.
Trump centered his entire campaign around material stolen for him by Russian spies, every single day, from 10 Oct to 8 Nov 2016, even though he knew it had been stolen by Russian spies.
Every. Single. Day.
Putin helped him win. Trump eagerly accepted the help. https://t.co/gIe5vSyrHf
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) August 20, 2020
Sir, this is a Wendy's
And please put your mask back on https://t.co/C9RwfK8xoy
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) August 20, 2020
I'll sincerely never understand why this is so hard for the rubes to follow.
They were spying on foreign enemies. Full stop.
Your campaign just happened to be on the other end of every call, and got caught. https://t.co/BnW5xwOSHD
— Ben. No More, No Less. (@BJS_quire) August 20, 2020
I CRAVE ATTENTION! https://t.co/Xo8LfMuAB4
— Chris Meloni (@Chris_Meloni) August 20, 2020
Excellent plan to address Covid. Very good. People are crying out for just this kind of leadership right now. https://t.co/WxJUxVLZp2
— Kate Bedingfield (@KBeds) August 20, 2020
Sit down, petulant child. https://t.co/g2uCDfrGuG
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) August 20, 2020
They soon began trolling Trump with their reverence for Obama.
Shhh. The president is speaking. https://t.co/TEmcOrLr1N
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) August 20, 2020
Pipe down, I'm watching the President's speech https://t.co/FUxRsPOXQC
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) August 20, 2020
Doesn't he look great?! https://t.co/EBA8NyzglQ pic.twitter.com/AziKYB1JOZ
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) August 20, 2020
Thursday is the final night of the Democratic National Convention, where Obama's former Vice President, Joe Biden, will officially accept the Democratic nomination for President.
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