Barack Obama Rips Trump In DNC Speech; Says President Has Treated Job as a 'Reality Show'

Barack Obama gave a passionate speech during the 2020 Democratic National Convention from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Penn., on Wednesday night (August 19).

The former President of the United States took aim at Donald Trump for his treatment of the presidency and what is really at stake in the election.

“What we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come. I’m in Philadelphia where our Constitution was drafted and signed. It wasn’t a perfect document. It allowed for the inhumanity of slavery and failed to guarantee women and even men who didn’t own property the right to participate in the political process,” Mr. Obama stated in his speech, adding, “But embedded in this document was a North Star that would guide future generations, a system of representative government, a democracy to which we could better realize our highest ideals. Through Civil War and bitter struggles, we improved this Constitution to include the voices of those who had once been left out. And gradually, we made this country more just and more equal and more free. ”

He continued, taking straight aim at the current leader of the country, “I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies…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.”

“For close to 4 years now, he has 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. No interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job, because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe.”

Mr. Obama went on, focusing on the numbers of the coronavirus pandemic, jobs lost, and more.

“Now, I know that in times as polarized as these, most of you have already made up your mind. But maybe you’re still not sure which candidate you will vote for or whether you will vote at all. Maybe you are tired of the direction we’re headed, but you can’t see a better path yet or you just don’t know enough about the person who wants to lead us there. So let me tell you about my friend, Joe Biden,” he shared, turning his focus to the Democratic nominee. “Joe is a man who learned early on to treat every person he meets with respect and dignity, living by the words his parents taught him. No one is better than you, Joe. But you’re better than nobody. That empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts, that’s who Joe is.”

He added about his VP pic, Kamala Harris, “In my friend Kamala Harris, (Biden)’s chosen an ideal partner who is more than prepared for the job, someone who knows what it’s like to overcome barriers and who has made a career fighting to help others live out their own American dream. Along with the experience needed to get things done, Joe and Kamala have concrete policies that will turn their vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into a reality.”

Watch Obama’s full speech below: