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Kamala Harris’s White House run received a boost from the Obama double-act at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday evening, when attendees also saw party members break into dance and heard speeches from Republican defectors.
Rapper Lil Jon added some extra celebrity firepower to the roll call as Democratic delegates went through the formal process of giving Ms Harris their backing.
Monday night included an emotional send-off from President Joe Biden, who reflected on the decades he had spent at the top of US politics before he stepped aside for Kamala Harris to take on the Democratic presidential candidacy.
But the next evening, the Obamas were eager to imbue the convention with positive messaging about the future – and to land a few gags at Donald Trump’s expense.
Here is a look back at some of the night’s memorable moments.
Michelle Obama’s ‘black jobs’ jibe
During back-to-back speeches, Barack and Michelle Obama mixed gags with serious exhortations to Democrats to get out and vote in November – pointing out that Ms Harris was in a close race with Donald Trump.
Mr Obama characterised the Republican presidential candidate as being selfish and dangerous, quipping that he was obsessed with crowd sizes.
And Mrs Obama mocked Trump for his use of the term “black jobs” on the campaign trail. She suggested that Trump might himself be seeking one of those jobs – in a reference to her husband’s previous tenure of the White House.
By contrast, Ms Harris represented “hope”, Ms Obama said, echoing her husband’s campaign messaging from 2008.
Former Trump spokeswoman blasts ex-boss
One of the night’s speakers was none other than Trump’s former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who resigned in the wake of the attack on the US Capitol by Trump’s supporters on 6 January 2021.
Ms Grisham said she would vote for Ms Harris in November, and explained her defection by saying: “I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer.”
She launched her own broadside at Trump, accusing him of having “no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth”.
Other Republicans who had crossed the political aisle made speeches, too – including Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona. Whether their interventions will sway Republicans is far from certain, given the tight grip that Trump and his wing have on their party.
The ex-president’s allies made sure to launch fresh barbs of their own. Trump’s presidential running mate JD Vance used a news conference to attack Harris over the “failures” of her vice-presidency, focusing on crime and public safety.
Doug Emhoff introduced as the ‘goofy dad’
America’s Second Gentleman had his own moment in the spotlight.
Ms Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff was introduced to the stage by his son Cole, who said their “blended family” had adjusted to their high-profile life in Washington.
“It felt like Doug was a bit out of place on Capitol Hill,” said Cole, the stepson of Ms Harris. “I thought, ‘What is my goofy dad doing here?’ But he embraced it.”
Mr Emhoff went on to laud his wife as the “right person” for him and for the US alike.
Meanwhile, a plane carrying Ms Harris herself – who had left a rally in Wisconsin – is reported to have circled for about 10 minutes in the air so that she could finish watch her husband’s speech before landing.
Democrats dance during celebrity roll call
Adding some extra stardust to the political event were filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Eva Longoria, among other famous faces.
Lil Jon showed up, too, performing a ceremonial duty for his home state during a rap that got Democrats dancing in the stands.
When asked which person Georgia was giving its 123 votes, he endorsed Ms Harris and sang bars of his hit Turn Down For What.
Convention attendees also saw the moves of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who boogied his way to the stage to giggles in the room.
Sanders doesn’t ‘feel the Bern’ from crowd
Bernie Sanders gave his own speech on Tuesday night – but the energy in the arena was described as “minimal” by the BBC’s North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. A murmur of people talking could be heard at the same time.
That is in contrast to the hero’s welcome that the veteran senator received in 2016, the year he challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Then, his supporters streamed into the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Eight years later, Mr Sanders could still be witnessed railing against oligarchs and corporate interests, but the atmosphere was very different.
One explanation was that the building was filled with delegates who originally supported Joe Biden – rather than the Sanders faithful. But it could also signal that the senator has no clear successor to lead the Democratic progressive left.
