Michelle Obama took down Trump without even mentioning his name
First lady tore into Trump's election slogan and low blows as she urged party to rally behind Hillary Clinton
MICHELLE Obama took down Donald Trump without ever mentioning his name as she called for the Democrats to rally behind Hillary Clinton in a powerful speech.
The First Lady ripped into the billionaire businessman for his campaign slogan of “make America great again” on the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
"Don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great,” she told delegates in an emotional speech.
“That somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth."
She also savaged Trump for his knee-jerk reactions to world events and Twitter postings.
Mrs Obama told delegates "the kind of president that I want for my girls and all children” is "someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters”.
Dressed in a tailor-made designer blue dress, she told how she and her husband have tried to shield their two daughters from racist attacks on their father.
“How we urge them to ignore those who question their father's citizenship or faith,” she said.
“How we insist that the hateful language that they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country,” she added, clearly referring to Trump
“How we explain when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level,” the First Lady said.
“No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.”
The mother-of-two also heaped praise on Mrs Clinton for inspiring her daughters Malia and Sasha to believe “that a woman can be president of the United States”.
Delivering a mother's impassioned call to action, the First Lady said Mrs Clinton had the “guts and the grace” to become the first female president, succeeding Barack Obama – the first black president.
She drew roars from the crowd when she said: “Leaders like Hilary Clinton who has the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting those cracks in the highest and hardest glass ceiling until she finally breaks through, lifting all of us along with her.
“That is the story of this country. The story that has brought me to the stage tonight.”
She had barely finished her speech when President Obama tweeted: “Incredible speech by an incredible woman.”
The night had threatened to be overshadowed by splits in the party, with one-time Democrat rival Bernie Sanders and desperately trying to keep his own supporters away following the release of hacked party emails.
The messages revealed the Democratic National Committee had favored Clinton over Sanders in the primary, despite vows of neutrality. The uproar led to the forced resignation of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
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Sanders took to the stage later in the evening to throw his weight behind the Party’s presumptive nominee and urging his own supporters to get behind her.
“Any objective observer will conclude that – based on her ideas and her leadership – Hillary Clinton must become the next President of the United States,” he said.
The evening saw several celebrities endorse Mrs Clinton as the Party’s candidate.
Actress Eva Longoria tore into Trump during her speech saying he had insulted several of her family members and declared “I’m with her”.
Comedian Sarah Silverman urged Sanders’ support to stop any further infighting and get behind Mrs Clinton.