The Obamas close DNC's second night with rousing Harris endorsement and pointed warnings about Trump

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00We can now bring in our senior reporter James Andre. James, you heard there a very electrifying

00:04endorsement from the Obamas for Kamala Harris. Yeah, absolutely. Well, it's interesting to see

00:08that Barack Obama and Kamala Harris go way back. They were friends in the beginning of the 2000s.

00:14Actually, what's really interesting is that, you know, they met during the 2004 Barack Obama

00:19campaign to become a senator. And then they met again in 2007 at the beginning of Barack Obama's

00:27bid to become president before he was endorsed by the party during the primaries when he was

00:32against Hillary Clinton. In fact, she, Kamala, was one of the first elected Democrats of weight

00:40to actually back him in the very, very first stages of his bid. She actually jumped on a plane.

00:46She was not very high profile at the time, but she was a DA. She leapt on a plane and flew to

00:49Ohio and actually campaigned for Barack Obama. Now, Barack Obama hasn't forgotten that. And over

00:54the years, the two have stayed pretty close. So this is why, obviously, he is very vocal in his

00:59support for Kamala Harris. But what's also interesting is to see that they're both black

01:05people, people of color, and they're both mixed race. And that is something also they've been

01:09talking about. And they've, you know, saying that this is a kind of an identity, etc. But you've got

01:14to remember that in the United States, this this racial barrier is still something that's, you know,

01:20been taken down, obviously, in part by Barack Obama, but was something that was very important

01:24for everyone back in 2008. And actually, she was talked about as being the black Obama at the time.

01:28But I myself was at Howard University in 2008, at the moment, the victory of Barack Obama was

01:35announced. And I think it's an interesting piece of footage, because it does show how important,

01:40you know, this this identity and race factor is in an American presidential race.

01:50So you can see it there. And I mean, went on to having teachers of the university. So this is

02:08where Kamala Harris actually studied. It's nicknamed, you know, the Black Harvard, it is

02:12the most prestigious black university in the United States. And that was, for example, the

02:17teacher of modern history saying, you know, this is a defining moment. This is, you know, the

02:21shattering of a glass ceiling, we have a new glass ceiling. So it's interesting to see how, you know,

02:25there is a continuity between those two campaigns. And she has changed the message from Joe Biden,

02:30she's moving on to, you know, her new message, main messages forward, you know, in a sense,

02:34it reminds everyone of hope. And yes, we can that was Barack Obama's motto back in 2008. And so,

02:41yes, obviously, this is quite quite a powerful moment to have Barack Obama there on stage,

02:46and he is, of course, still loved within the democratic establishment, and the Democratic

02:50Party. Clearly, given that applause he him and his wife got, let's talk about tonight,

02:56because we're going to have Bill Clinton, who's going to address the convention tonight,

03:00and his wife, former First Lady and former Secretary of State, who is now firmly behind

03:07Kamala Harris, she addressed the convention on Monday night, the first day, but she wasn't always

03:13firmly behind Harris, was she? Well, no, because as you can imagine, as I was just saying, you

03:17know, back when she was pitted against Barack Obama for nomination as the candidate in 2008,

03:23well, obviously, she wasn't very fond of anybody who'd backed Barack Obama. Now, this has changed

03:29over the years. And when she became, you know, Vice President, obviously, Hillary Clinton,

03:34you know, the Clintons warmed up to her and they have over the years. And it's actually known today

03:40that, indeed, Hillary Clinton, in the last stages, just before Joe Biden stepped out of the race,

03:46she did organize dinners at one of the Clintons' homes, which is close to the Vice President's

03:52mansion. And she had the top brass there of the Democratic Party, basically paving the way

03:58and preparing everything for this to be unity behind Kamala Harris. This unity is obviously

04:03one of the big, big issues when it comes to a convention. When you do your convention, you want

04:07to, you know, obviously define what the policy is going to be for the next four years if you're

04:11elected, but also electrify the base, electrify the party. It's a show of force and a show of

04:16unity. And having the Clintons, who, of course, a fixture have been for the last 40 years in

04:20American politics and in the Democratic Party being behind you is obviously important. So tonight's

04:24going to be Bill Clinton, former president there as well. And obviously, it's going to be a pretty

04:29strong endorsement, as we can imagine. And he's a good orator. So it'll be another good, interesting

04:33speech to watch. Another interesting speech we're going to get tonight is, of course, from the VP

04:38pick, Kamala Harris's VP pick, Tim Walz. This is essentially his chance to introduce himself

04:45to the American public. Yeah, Tim Walz, of course, it's going to be probably the most important

04:49speech, of course, tonight, because he's on the ticket. Now, Tim Walz is obviously going to get a

04:53chance to show the American public who he exactly is. Now, we are starting to know him,

04:58but the fact of the matter is, a lot of Americans had not heard of Tim Walz before he became.

05:02Everyone was Googling him. So, yeah, but he's actually a very, very interesting pick for Kamala

05:08Harris. Why? Because he is a white man, which obviously balances the ticket. Oh, same age,

05:14actually. But he's also, and that's interesting, to the left of Kamala Harris, he's more progressive

05:20than she is, or at least he's seen so, because indeed, you know, he's a former teacher, he's a

05:24former football coach, he's a form, he's a military vet, he's a lot of things, which obviously are

05:28going to sound reassuring for parts of the electorate. But he is also, for example, he was

05:33a champion for LGBT rights. As early in his career, I mean, he was designated as a teacher to create a

05:40safe space for gay students back then in the high school he was working at. And that has been a

05:45defining part of his career, as well. He has also been very progressive on other issues, such as,

05:49for example, poorer families to help them with school fees, preschool meals, exactly. So that

05:55means he will be, if you like, the left caution of Kamala Harris, all while being the white guy,

06:01while she is the black woman. So it's a very interesting ticket. And that is really the

06:06message he's going to have to hammer home tonight is to show exactly who he is, make himself known,

06:10and, you know, convey this message as being this reassuring fatherly figure, whilst being

06:15very progressive. Yeah. And he's also a good speaker as well. So a lot of good speeches

06:20to look out for tonight. Thank you very much for that, James. James Andre there.

Category

Transcript

Recommended