Philadelphia:
First Lady Michelle Obama today endorsed “friend” Hillary Clinton as the only one “truly qualified” to be the next US President even as she lashed out at Republican Donald Trump of being “thin-skinned” and taking “snap decisions” in a veiled attack.
Michelle made a passionate plea for the former secretary of state in front of thousands of delegates and members of the Democratic Party at its national convention here and hailed the power that having a first female president would bring to the country.
“I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States,” she said.
“I am here tonight because in this election there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility, only one person who I believe is truly qualified to be president of the United States, and that is our friend Hillary Clinton.”
The four-day convention, which began yesterday would nominate Clinton as its presidential candidate. The 68-year-old former secretary of state would deliver her acceptance speech on Thursday, thus, becoming America’s first woman presidential candidate of a major political party.
If elected in the final race against Trump in November, she would be the first US woman president. Without naming Trump, the First Lady appeared to be critical of the 70-year-old real estate tycoon who once questioned the birth of her husband and US President Barack Obama.
“Make no mistake about it, this November when we go to the polls that is what we’re deciding, not Democrat or Republican, not left or right. No, in this election and every election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives,” she said amid cheers and applause.
“We urge them to ignore those who question their father’s citizenship or faith,” she told delegates and a national television audience, in a clear reference to Trump’s remarks targetting Obama.
“We insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country,” she said, apparently referring to the new kind of standards in terms of lingo set in this year’s campaign unlike of a US election.
Having been a resident of the White House and seen Obama running the country for seven and half years, Michelle said when she thinks of “the kind of president that I want for my girls and all children,” it’s someone who takes the job seriously - “someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters”, in an allusion to Trump’s tweets.
“Because when you have the nuclear codes at your fingertips and the military in your command, you can’t make snap decisions,” she said, adding: “You can’t have a thin skin or a tendency to lash out. You need to be steady and measured and well-informed.”
