Barack Obama warns Democrats of ‘tough race’ to defeat Donald Trump

In a passionate speech on Tuesday, Barack Obama declared America was “ready for a new chapter” with Kamala Harris as president, but warned Democrats they faced a “tough race” to elect her and defeat Donald Trump in November.

Speaking at the Democratic convention in Chicago, the former president used his political clout to try to quell any doubts within the party about Harris’ candidacy, while warning the crowd not to become complacent about the election results.

“Make no mistake: this is going to be a fight,” Obama said. “For all the incredible energy we’ve been able to generate over the last few weeks, for all the protests and memes, this is still going to be a tight race in a deeply divided country.”

In spite of ObamaThe 63-year-old, now out of office for nearly eight years, is one of the party’s most influential and beloved figures, and party leaders hope his prime-time speech will help unite and mobilize the party’s support for Harris.

Obama’s appearance in his hometown comes as some Democrats try to draw parallels between his successful 2008 campaign to be elected the first black president of the United States, and Harris’ bid to become the country’s first female president.

As he took the stage, Obama was greeted with chants of “Yes, we can,” his own campaign slogan — and then he started chanting “Yes, she can,” referring to Harris.

Obama’s speech featured some of the rhetoric that has characterized his presidency, but also mocked Trump as a selfish billionaire and a conspiracy theorist whose actions were “pretty boring.”

“The other day, I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who runs the leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day,” he said.

“We don’t need four more years of pomp and circumstance. We’ve seen that movie before — and we all know that sequels are usually worse.”

Obama endorsed Harris last month, days after she launched her campaign following Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race. But Tuesday’s speech was his strongest endorsement yet.

The former Democratic president spoke right after Michelle Obama, the former first lady who remains popular within the party. “There’s something wonderfully magical in the air,” she told the audience. “America, hope is back.”

But like her husband, Michelle Obama also used her speech to urge other Democrats to act — and criticize Trump.

“In some states, just a handful of votes in each precinct can determine the winner,” she said. “We need to vote in numbers that put any doubt in our minds. We need to overwhelm any attempt to suppress us.”

The former first lady received one of the biggest applause lines of the night when she criticized Trump for his “narrow view of the world” and, referring to her husband and herself, said he was “threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who are also black.”

“Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for might be one of those ‘black jobs’?” she added, referring to Trump’s suggestion that immigrants are taking jobs away from African Americans.

Obama’s speeches are significant for a party struggling to hide divisions over Israel’s war in Gaza and disagreements over Biden’s removal from the top job.

Barack Obama initially defended Biden, with whom he had a complicated relationship while in office, sometimes disagreeing, after a disastrous debate with Trump in late June. But he has been conspicuously silent as Democrats pressure the 81-year-old president to drop out of the race. On Tuesday, Obama offered a few words to honor Biden’s legacy, saying he “defended democracy at a time of great peril.”

As the Obama family spoke, Chicago police clash with protesters outside the Israeli consulate near the city’s central business district.

Their speeches opened with a ceremonial roll call vote formally nominating Harris as the party’s presidential nominee, a vote that ended with the enthusiastic endorsement of Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, her home state.

Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, were not present, but campaigned in Milwaukee before about 15,000 people at the same venue where Trump held his Republican convention last month.

While Democrats have shown renewed enthusiasm for Harris since she replaced Biden on the ticket just a month ago, she will need to translate the initial excitement for her bid into votes in battleground states.

“We should not delude ourselves into thinking this is a sure victory,” Anita Dunn, a former senior adviser to Biden at the White House, said on the sidelines of the DNC.

On Tuesday, Trump traveled to Michigan, another major swing state, to talk about “crime and safety,” as he stepped up his campaign.

According to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, Harris leads Trump by nearly 3 percent nationally and has a slight lead in most swing states.