(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) By now, most conservatives know that when it comes to Michelle and Barack Obama, not everything is always as it seems.
What may appear at face value to mean one thing is likely to have some hidden subtext tucked away underneath.
So it was with the former first lady’s speech Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention, amid longstanding rumors of bad blood between her and the Bidens that dates back to their mistreatment of Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle.
“You know, we’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading across this country we love—a familiar feeling that has been buried too deep for far too long,” Michelle Obama said to begin her roughly 20-minute remarks.
“You know what I’m talking about,” she continued. “It’s the contagious power of hope.”
The comment may not have registered with Democratic audiences that have been groomed and conditioned to lack any shred of self-awareness, but suggesting that “hope” had “been buried” across America was more than just a hamfisted attempt to hearken back to her husband’s 2008 slogan.
Indeed, it was another knife in President Joe Biden’s back following his curtain call in the wee hours of the night on Monday.
“The anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division and hate that have consumed us,” Michelle elaborated in her critique of the Biden–Harris administration, which has held the reins for the past three years and seven months.
“… [T]o be honest, I am realizing that, until recently, I have mourned the dimming of that hope,” she said. “And maybe you’ve experienced the same feelings—that deep pit in my stomach, a palpable sense of dread about the future.”
M. Obama says "until recently," she had a "deep pit" in her stomach and a "palpable sense of dread" — until their band of Democrat elites conspired to boot Crooked Joe off the ticket pic.twitter.com/fBhyQjSGOg
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 21, 2024
The Democrats’ typical facade of backslapping camaraderie was further undermined by recent reports that Biden’s endorsement of Kamala Harris to replace him on the presidential ticket may have derailed the Obamas’ political plans.
Many on both sides of the aisle wondered how to interpret top Democrat leaders’ apparent reluctance, initially, to endorse Biden’s second-in-command.
Yet, the “dread” that Michelle Obama referenced during her speech echoed her remarks in a January podcast, during which she explained that the outcome of the November election had been keeping her up at night.
“What’s gonna happen in this next election?” she asked.
“I am terrified about what could possibly happen because our leaders matter, who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit,” she added. “It affects us in ways that I think sometimes people take for granted.”
That interview triggered a wave of speculation that Obama herself was gearing up for a possible primary challenge against Biden. But as it failed to materialize, some began to wonder if the inevitable Biden coup would take the form of a floor vote at the DNC convention in Chicago.
That is, until jittery Democrat donors and powerbrokers finally had their fill last month, following Biden’s catastrophic debate performance against Trump in Atlanta.
It was Barack Obama who reportedly delivered the final ultimatum to the convalescent commander-in-chief after Harris signaled her openness to invoking the 25th Amendment to declare Biden unfit for office.
Nonetheless, Biden’s decision shortly thereafter to endorse his ex-running mate may have thrown a wrench in the Obamas’ plans.
Reportedly, they had hoped to rally behind Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, considered—despite his far-left record—to be a more moderate alternative. In all likelihood, though, the Obamas were hoping for a “draft Michelle” movement, allowing her to coast into the nomination with no competition, given her well-documented aversion to campaigning.
The astroturf campaign waged by big donors and the media to buoy Harris undoubtedly would have been amplified several times over by a Michelle Obama candidacy—and without the same air of inauthenticity—ushering the power couple back into the White House with minimal effort or expense.
Following her opening digs at the current administration on Tuesday, Obama swiftly segued into a tribute to her late mother, and then to praising Harris’s candidacy—with a hearty dose of race and gender identity politics infused into her endorsement to compensate for the Democrat nominee’s lack of accomplishments, along with more backhanded snipes at Biden.
“My girl, Kamala Harris, is more than ready for this moment,” Obama said. “She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency—and she is one of the most dignified.”
Although her vague attack, ostensibly, was on GOP nominee Donald Trump, it was hard to picture anything but Biden’s high-profile Depends moments—including one during a solemn D-Day commemoration in France earlier this year.
Obama’s speech drew headlines as well for her race-baiting attack on Trump that “the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those ‘black jobs’?”
BEST MOMENT OF NIGHT AT DNC:
Michelle Obama to Trump: “Who is going to tell him that the job that he is currently seeking might just me one of those ‘black jobs’?” pic.twitter.com/z0ycTD8pJG
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) August 21, 2024
It hearkened back to the former Republican president’s hostile interview with an ABC News correspondent during a recent black journalists summit, also in Chicago. Trump noted at the time that a “black job” was any job held by a black person that was at risk of being supplanted by the Biden administration’s open-border policies.
Many black voters have, in turn, indicated that they shared Trump’s concern and saw nothing wrong with the characterization, which Democrats themselves have frequently used to stereotype blacks in the workforce.
Obama’s speech was further slammed by critics for demonstrating her own lack of self awareness on several occasions—including her failure to acknowledge her wealth and luxurious lifestyle while attacking Trump for his.
Her parents “did not aspire to be wealthy,” she claimed.
“In fact, they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed,” she added. “They understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.”
.@MichelleObama says her parents were "suspicious of folks who took more than they needed." pic.twitter.com/64tNg2ar42
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) August 21, 2024
In another moment that seemed particularly tone-deaf in the wake of the Democrat elites’ coup against their own nominee, she claimed that other people did not get second chances the way Trump did.
“If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead,” Obama said. “No, we don’t get to change the rules so we always win.”
Following Michelle Obama’s speech, her husband took the stage and delivered a roughly 35-minute oratory that was most notable for his commentary on Trump’s penis.
Obama made a penis joke because he’s gay
Even Don Lemon knows https://t.co/qtXIn5p3gd
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) August 21, 2024
Ben Sellers is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/realbensellers.
