Former President Barack Obama’s Wednesday night speech for the Democratic National Convention channeled a sense of despair and anger against President Donald Trump that defied party lines, MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace said.
“Obama’s speech shook me because of his despair laid bare,” Wallace said. She cited Trump’s unpresidential behavior and his coziness with Russia as factors that would enrage “every living former president.”
“We cannot fathom the fury and the despair and the rage that every former living president ― I’m going to go out on a limb and say the dead ones too ― when they watch Donald Trump. And I’ve not seen any living president tap that well of despair and be vulnerable enough to share it with the country.”
Wallace added that the vulnerability in Obama’s remarks allowed vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ follow-up speech to shine with its hopeful celebration of diversity and a future America where all are welcome.
“I think that this convention’s storytelling is second to none,” Wallace said, calling the speakers’ dramatic stories of the pain caused by Trump’s regime “Hollywood-like.”
Wallace’s potent take on Obama garnered praise on Twitter, with multiple voices echoing the words of the MSNBC host.