DNC’s first night targets Trump

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The opening night of the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention had one theme: target President Donald Trump.
• Monday night’s key speakers include former first lady Michelle Obama, Sen.Bernie Sanders, 2016 Republican presidential runner-up John Kasich, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer among others.
• Kristin Urquiza, a daughter who lost her father to COVID-19, blames Trump in an emotional DNC speech.

The Democrats raised the stakes to a new level Monday night at the first-ever virtual convention with the theme “We the People.” Several keynote speakers addressed the convention with an agenda: blame Trump.

Here are four of the speakers who addressed the convention Monday night.

Michelle Obama: Donald Trump is ‘the wrong president for this country’

During her keynote speech, the former first lady Michelle Obama urged Americans “to vote for Joe Biden, like our lives depend on it.” 

“[Trump] has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is,” Obama continued in a virtual speech, echoing a remark Trump made recently about the coronavirus death toll in the U.S.

Bernie Sanders: ‘Authoritarianism has taken root’ under Trump

On his speech, Sen. Bernie Sanders accused President Trump of “leading us down the path of authoritarianism” and having a “negligent response” to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country,” Sanders said.

Sanders made sure to address his supporters directly, urging them to cast their ballots for Biden.   

“Let me take this opportunity to say a word to the millions who supported my campaign this year and in 2016,” Sanders said. “If Donald Trump is reelected, all the progress we have made will be in jeopardy. … The price of failure is too great to imagine.” 

DNC features Republican Gov. John Kasich

Several Republicans have broken ranks with the GOP and decided to support Biden. They included former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman; former eBay CEO Meg Whitman; former New York Rep. Susan Molinari; among others.

The most prominent among them was the 2016 Republican presidential runner-up John Kasich. The former governor of Ohio announced that he is endorsing Biden. 

Daughter of COVID-19 victim blasts Trump

Kristin Urquiza, whose father died of COVID-19, directly blamed Trump for her family’s loss.

“My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life,” said Urquiza. “The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: The America that Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in.”

In his father’s obit, Urquiza wrote: “Mark, like so many others, should not have died from COVID-19. His death is due to the carelessness of the politicians who continue to jeopardize the health of brown bodies through a clear lack of leadership.”

Source: AOL