Hillary Clinton had criticized the “deplorable” Trumpists, Joe Biden was glossing over American democracy in danger. For their campaign, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz prefer to use humor. The vice-presidential candidate hit the mark by calling Republicans “weird” in early August. The sally was taken up repeatedly by young Democratic activists on social networks.
Gone are the days when Democrats sought to rise above the soundbites and invectives of the Trump camp. On Tuesday, at the Democratic convention in Chicago, Michelle Obama’s barbs set the tone. After calling in 2016 to “take a step back” from Republican attacks, the former “First Lady” this time led the charge against Donald Trump.
Most Americans “will never benefit from the positive discrimination of wealthy heirs,” she attacked the billionaire, who never misses an opportunity to ridicule the defense of diversity and inclusion dear to Democrats.
Michelle Obama on the offensive
“When we face a mountain, we don’t expect there to be an escalator to take us to the top,” she said, to loud laughter from the audience, referring to Donald Trump’s 2016 candidacy announcement in front of the golden escalators of Trump Tower in New York.
Barack Obama embroidered on this theme: “Here is a 78-year-old billionaire who has never stopped whining about his problems since he stepped off his Golden Escalator nine years ago,” he mocked in his speech, after Michelle. In the process, the former president compared him to the annoying neighbor who spends his time blowing leaves in front of your house. And he made fun of his “bizarre obsession with the size of his crowds,” using evocative gestures that triggered laughter from the thousands of delegates gathered in Chicago.
Offended, the former president was angry at these “personal” attacks while he himself is being chastised by his team for “sticking to the project”! But he will have to get used to it. The Democrats seem determined to have fun at his expense.
Even his wealth as a real estate developer, and more recently as an investor in the social network Truth Social, has been ridiculed. “Donald Trump thinks we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be very rich,” noted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, one of the heirs of the Hyatt family that founded the hotel giant, whose fortune is estimated at more than $3 billion. “But I’m a real billionaire, and I’m telling you, the only thing Trump has in abundance is his stupidity,” he snarled.
Bill Clinton comedian
But no speaker had the United Center crowd laughing as much as former President Bill Clinton, better known as a saxophonist than a comedian. Reflecting the Democrats’ newfound enthusiasm, he pointed out that after Joe Biden withdrew, the Republican had become the oldest candidate. “My only personal vanity is that I’m still younger than Donald Trump,” he said, to laughter, after noting that he had just turned 78.
“Next time you listen to (Trump), don’t count the lies, count the number of times he says I,” he also said. “He’s like a tenor warming up his voice when he comes on stage and repeats me, me, me.” To the delight of the delegates, he mocked “his endless tirades about the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” the cannibalistic serial killer at the heart of the film “The Silence of the Lambs,” to whom Donald Trump strangely regularly refers during his speeches.
This new tone of the Democratic campaign is appreciated by activists. “We are on the offensive, but our message remains positive,” rejoices Frank Burger, who came from Michigan. “This is the best convention I have attended, I have not felt this much energy since 2008,” he notes.
