Transcript of Obamas take on Trump and Harris ceremonially nominated: Must-watch moments from DNC day 2

Pursuant to the rules, the roll call will follow the alphabetical order of the states with the district of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the territories, and Democrats abroad treated as states for the purposes of the alphabetical roll call. Delegates, are you ready? Yes. Let me hear you.

Ladies and gentlemen, my name is DJ Cassidy, and I'd like to welcome you to the Democratic National Convention roll call.

Now, we're going to pass the mic from state to state so that all our voices are heard all around the nation. The great state of Minnesota. How do you pass your vote? Hello, Minnesota. My name is Hans Storbeck, and Tim Walsh was my neighbor, coach, and favorite teacher. We were excited to go to his classroom every day. If you've ever been in high school, you know that can be rare. He opened our eyes to the world. He taught us how to talk about global issues with respect, curiosity, and kindness, even and especially when we disagreed. But he wasn't just a great teacher. He was also a great neighbor and friend. In fact, when he was in the midst of a budget battle as governor of our state, he still found time to attend my brother's funeral. Mr. Walls means the world to my family. He's always been there for us, and that's how I know he'll always be there for you as vice president.

Thank you, Hyme. Minnesot, let me hear you. There you go. 14 years in the National Football League taught me a lot about leadership. A good leader cannot be selfish. He has to look out for his team. Coach Walsh is unselfish as they come. He has led Minnesota with honesty and integrity. And in November, Minnesota is going to send Tim Walsh and Kamala Harris to the White House. Let's go.

I'm Amy Kloveshar, the Senator from the great state of Minnesota, where nearly everyone votes in Purple Rains. And I'm Tina Smith from the great state of Minnesota, the home of the next vice President of the United States, Tim Walsh. Minnesota, we cast 10 votes present, and we deliver 81 votes for Kamala Harris and Tim Walsh. The great state of California. How do you cast your My name's Governor Gavin Newsom. From the great state of Nancy Pelosi. I come from a state like our nation of dreamers, of doers, of entrepreneurs, of innovators that prides itself on being on the leading and cutting edge of new ideas. California is the most diverse state in the world's most diverse democracy. Democracy. And we pride ourselves. We pride ourselves on our ability to live together and advance together and prosper together across every conceivable and imaginable difference. But the thing we pride ourselves most on is that we believe the future happens in California first. And Democrats, I've had the privilege for over 20 years to see see that future taking shape with a star in Alameda courtroom by the name of Kamala Harris. I saw that star. I saw that star fighting for criminal justice, racial justice, economic justice, social justice.

I saw that star get even brighter as attorney general of California, as a United States Senator, and as vice President of the United States of America. Kamala Harris has always done the right thing, a champion for voting rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, the rights for women and girls. So Democrats and independents, it's time for us to do the right thing, and that is to elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States of America. California. We proudly cast our 482 votes for the next President, Kamala Harris.

We got the next, Van Jones. There's a lot of Republicans in the Trump campaign who have been trying to say that Kamala Harris is to the left of Bernie Sanders. Well, she's not. Which, by the way, Bernie Sanders laughs about it. Exactly. And so does everybody else. I just want to say Kamala Harris has put the party back in the Democratic Party. This was an extraordinary moment in terms of just the people needed to get some release. I've never seen... Who had on their Bingo card that the biggest dance party of the summer would be the D&C? I don't think anybody has to on the Bingo card. Look, Bernie Sanders is leading an important movement in this party, but it is not Kammerharris' movement, and that will be clear tonight. Is there a danger, David Oxtrod, in having Bernie Sanders?

No, I don't think. Look, The truth is that Bernie Sanders is going to get up there and he's going to talk about economic issues, I'm sure, that are very central to people in their lives. And that is his wheelhouse. And that's really what she's… You can say, and I'm sure Scott will, while she's running on Bernie Sanders platform. If raising the minimum wage and family leave and childcare tax credits and so on are that, I think that's fine. I think that's going to be a real help to her, and that's a focus she wants.

One of the takeaways from the Trump years, though, is that the Republican Party, instead of looking at their autopsy and saying, Here's how we need to change, here's how we appeal to the middle, they ushered in the era of Trump. The idea was like, Let's stick to our guns about what we believe, and that energy is going to draw more people in. This is a view of a Democratic Party that might be approaching things the same way. That's saying instead of being like, Oh, no, someone called me a liberal, you just say, Great, I'm going to own it. I'm going to make it a party, and maybe that will draw more people in. And that's a different posture from so many years of like, We need to compromise, we need to appeal, we need to move to the middle. It'll be interesting to see.

I mean, Sanders being here is another affirmation of what Republicans already think about her because of the way she ran for President before. Medicare for All, friendly with defund the police, permissive immigration structure. I mean, she ran on a lot of very, very progressive things. Now, anonymous campaign sources now say she's no longer for of that. But for Republicans, that's not going to be good enough.

This is my dad, Dub. He was raised in Jersey, moved to LA when he was 16. These are his parents, Barb and Mike. They think he walks on water. This is what he wore to his bar mitzvah. Here's him at summer camp. They voted him Most Athletic, so he says. This is a photo McDonald's used when he was Employee of the It hung on our wall for years. My dad is a lawyer, a really good one. My mom called him the Crisis guy because he was everyone's first call. My parents split when I was in middle school, and that wasn't easy. That's not easy for any kid. But it helped that my parents stayed friends, and we all kept hanging together. We grew closer than ever. And then he met Kamala, the blind date that would dramatically change all of our lives forever. It was my senior year of high school. Elle and I would laugh watching them fall in love acting like teenagers. In 2014, Kamala became Mamala. She took over Sunday night dinners and taught Doug how to actually cook. Our blended family wasn't used to politics or the spotlight, but when Kamala became Senator, we were all excited to step up, especially my dad.

Then Kamala became vice President. It felt like Doug was a bit out of place on Capitol Hill. I thought, What is my goofy dad doing here? But he embraced it. He left his practice after being a lawyer for 30 years. That was tough. I was so proud to watch him do it, to stand by her side, an example of true partnership. I just got married myself, and he's inspired me as a new husband. Anyone who really gets close to him knows he's kind, loving, and fiercely protective. I mean, just look at this face. This is my dad, the first, second gentleman in the history of this nation. He's found his voice around the issues that matter to him.

You have no choice but to speak up and speak out. There is an epidemic of hate, including a crisis of anti-Semitism in our country and around the world. What they are doing on reproductive freedom and freedom in general is just outrageous.

And next, he's going to make history again as the first, first gentleman. I can't wait for everyone to get to know why we all love him. He's the glue that keeps this family together. Together. We might not look like other families in the White House, but we are ready to represent all families in America. Please welcome my dad, the second gentleman of the United States, Doug Emhoff. You got the music in your one. You got the music in your one.

Now, I'm the son of two Brooklynites, Mike and Barb. They've been together almost 70 years. My dad worked in the shoe business in Manhattan, and he moved our family out to New Jersey. Where's New Jersey? I see you out there when I was a little kid. In a lot of ways, I had a typical Jersey suburban childhood. I biked around the neighborhood. I took the bus to Hebrew school, and I rode to Little League practice in the way back of my coaches wood-paneled station wagon. If we did well, we got to have a slurpy after. In my neighborhood, everyone left their garage door open. Wherever you ended up at dinner time, that's the family that fed you. Everyone took care of everyone else. The guys I grew up with are still my best friends. The group chat is active every day, and it's probably blowing up right now, guys. When my dad had to get a new job, we moved across the country to LA. Money was tight. Hey, California. Money was tight, so I worked at McDonald's in high school for some extra cash. Not only was I Employee of the Month, but I still have the frame picture, which you just saw, and there was a ring, golden arches and all.

And then I waited tables, parked cars. I was working full-time, so I could afford to go to college part-time. And thanks to Thanks to partial scholarships, student loans, and a little help from my dad, I got myself through law school, and I got my first job as a lawyer, which is also where I met the guys in my fantasy football league. A lot has changed in our lives since the early '90s, but my team name is still Nervana. Yes, after the ban. I worked hard, and I love being a lawyer. And by the way, I still get to be part of the profession by teaching students at Georgetown Law School. I got married I became a dad to Cole and Ella. Unfortunately, I went through a divorce, but eventually started worrying about how I would make it all work. And that's when something unexpected happened. In 2013, I walked into a contentious client meeting. We worked through the issue, and by the end of the meeting, the now happy client offered to set me up on a blind date, which is how I ended up with Kamala Harris's phone number. Now, for generations, people have debated when to call the person you're being set up with.

And never in history has anyone suggested 8:30 AM. And yet, that's when I dialed. I got Kamala's voicemail, and I just started rambling. Hey, it's Doug. I'm on my way to an early meeting. Again, it's It's Doug. I remember I was trying to grab the words out of the air and just put them back in my mouth. For what seemed like far too many minutes, I hung up. By the way, Kamala saved that voicemail, and she makes me listen to it on every anniversary. But that message wasn't the only unusual thing about that day. Now, Now, Kamala, who normally would have been working hard at her office, just happened to be waiting at her apartment for a contractor to do some work on her kitchen. I was eating at my desk, which was not a regular occurrence for a busy lawyer like me who appreciated a good business lunch. But that's when she called me back, and we talked for an hour, and we laughed. You know that laugh? I love that laugh.

Kamala worked her up to become Vice President of the United States of America. My girl, Kamala Harris, is more than ready for this moment. She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency. She is one of the most dignified identified. A tribute to her mother, to my mother, and to your mother, too. The embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country. Her story is your story. It's my story. It's the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life. Look, Kamala knows, like we do, that regardless of where you come from, what you look like, who you love, how you worship, or what's in your bank account, we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life. All of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued. Because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American. No one. Kamala has shown her allegiance to this nation, not by spewing anger and bitterness, but by living a life of service and always pushing the doors of opportunity open to others. She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward.

We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt a business, if we bankrupt a business, or choke in a crisis, we don't get a second, third, or fourth chance. If things don't go our way, we don't have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. No. We don't get to change the rules so we always win. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don't expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top. No. We put our heads down. We get to work. In America, we do something. And throughout her entire life, That's what we've seen from Kamala Harris. The steel of her spine, the steadiness of her upbringing, the honesty of her example, and yes, the joy of her laughter and her light. It couldn't be more obvious. Of the two major candidates in this race, only Kamala Harris truly understands the unseen labor and unwavering commitment that has always made America great. Now, unfortunately, we know what comes next. We know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth. My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this.

For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard work and highly-educated, successful people who happen to be black. Wait. I want to know. I want to know. Who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs? It's his same old con. His same old con doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lives as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people's lives better. Look, because cutting our health care, taking away our freedom to control our bodies, the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did, those things are not not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers, and daughters. Shutting down the Department of Education, banning our books, none of that will prepare our kids for the future. Demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love. Look, that doesn't make anybody's life better. Instead, it only makes us small. Let me tell you this, going small is never the answer.

Going small is the opposite of what we teach our kids. Going small is petty, it's unhealthy, and quite frankly, it's unpresidential. Why would Why any of us accept this from anyone seeking our highest office? Why will we normalize that type of backward leadership? Doing so only demeans and cheapens our politics. It only serves to further discourage good big-hearted people from wanting to get involved at all. America. Our parents taught us better than that, and we deserve so much better than that. That's why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good big-hearted people. There is no other choice than Kamala Harris and Tim Walsh. No other choice. You all, thank you for all the love, but it is now my honor to introduce somebody who knows a whole lot about hope. Someone who has spent his life strengthening our democracy. And let me tell you, as someone who lives with him, he wakes up every day, every day, and thinks about what's best for this country. Please welcome America's 44th President and the love of my life, Barack Obama.

Here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that's actually been getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to Kamel. There's the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes. It It just goes on and on and on. The other day, I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day. Now, from a neighbor, that's exhausting. From a President, it's just dangerous. The truth is, Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than it means to his ends. He wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help him and his rich friends. He killed a bipartisan immigration deal, written in part by one of the most conservative Republicans in Congress, that would have helped secure our Southern border because he thought trying to actually solve the problem would hurt his campaign. He doesn't...

Do not boo. Do not vote.

Do not He doesn't seem to care if more women lose their reproductive freedom since it won't affect his life. And most of all, Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and them, between the real Americans who, of course, support him and the outsiders who don't. And he wants you to think that you'll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place. It is one of the oldest tricks in politics. For I'm a guy who has, let's face it, gotten pretty stale. We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse. America is ready for a new chapter. That is what this election is about. And I believe that's why if we each do our part over the next 77 days, if we knock on doors, if we make phone calls, if we talk to our friends, if if we listen to our neighbors, 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, and Tim Rolls as the next Vice President of the United States.

We will elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful, forward-looking America we all believe in. And together, we, too, will build a country that is more secure and more just, more equal, and more free. So let's get to work. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

I think Michelle Obama's speech was probably the most effective, powerful political speech I've ever heard. It was rather remarkable. I didn't know how much I missed them. I missed them. I missed that. I missed hearing that. Biden did something important last night, and he transferred the machinery of the party to Kamma Harris. The Obamas renewed the magic of the movement. That's what they were transferring. They did it beautifully. They did it powerfully. Obama used nostalgia in a beautiful way. He didn't say, Make America great again. We're going to go back. He reminded everybody of the best things about our families, about our neighborhoods. That was beautiful. Then Michelle, she wasn't doing the minister role. She was really doing the coaching role in that she called her right out. She said, You guys... She talked about the affirmative action of generational wealth. She talked about the luxury of winding and cheating that other people don't have. But she didn't stop there. She also called the left up. And she said, The winding on the left needs to stop. The Goldilocks, they're not perfect. This was a masterful act of leadership. It was a sacred task. They took it on well.

It was like an oasis. I didn't realize I had been in a spiritual desert until they created that oasis on that stage, and they did a beautiful job tonight. David?

Look, campaigns operate on different levels, and one of them is on the level of issues, and certainly, they engaged in some of that, President in particular. But they also operate on a plane of values. These were value-laden speeches. The message was, and it's something that Kamala Harris has saying, There's so much that we share. And democracy is in many ways an ongoing battle between cynicism and hope. And the goal of the cynics is to divide us and appeal to our worst instincts. And the goal of the optimist is to inspire us to hope. When she said right at the beginning of her speech that there was something wonderfully magical in the air, and she said, It's the contagious power of hope. Yeah, man. And so what they're trying to do here, and I think what Kamala Harris has been doing in her speech is, is to set up a counterpoint to this relentlessly negative, divisive, grinding quality to Donald Trump and the Donald Trump campaign. And his reaction to the Kamala Harris challenge has been to become more grindingly negative, more a divisive, more appealing to people's sense of fear. And I think they are setting up a contrast in what they're saying, not just to the base of the Democratic Party, but to every American, we're better than this.

Think about the values that you grew up with, that you teach your children, that you want your children to adhere to, that we benefited from, from our parents. We should want that in our leaders. We should want that in our government. I think it's a very powerful, powerful thing. I've seen it. I've seen it at work. I've seen it move a country. I think it can move a country again.

I like the dialog with the current culture. They were calling out to memes and ideas and jokes, the escalator. There were certain the hand gestures that the former President did, talking about crowd sizes, breaking the fourth wall, saying things we've We've seen this movie before. The sequel is not so good. Even the way Michelle Obama talked rebranding the They Go Low to Going Small. I thought that was a really fascinating way to put it because in comparing it to the RNC, which we were at, there was something about it that was quite cloistered. I mean, not to compare the enthusiasm because it was after assassination attempt, but it felt small. It was so hyper-focused that it had a way of shutting out the world. There is a way that these speeches tonight were trying to make the world of Democrats bigger somehow. I don't know if that makes sense, Scott.

You know this line, to your point, this line was when I underlined, going small is petty, it's unhealthy, and quite frankly, it's unpresidential. I think that's what people know. Donald Trump is not a popular person.

But they're no longer talking about him as an existential threat. Between the weird, between this language, there's a deflating of this boogie man that they had been talking about.