President Barack Obama gave the strongest possible endorsement of Hillary Clinton on at the Democratic Convention Wednesday, saying no one has ever been more qualified to be president — even him.
“I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman — not me, not Bill, nobody — more qualified,” Obama said, as former President Bill Clinton looked giddy from the audience in Philadelphia.
By saying “never,” Obama was also including Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and all the other presidents often ranked among our best. Obama didn’t say Hillary Clinton was better than them — only that no one who came before was better qualified than her.
“You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office … Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis or send young people to war,” Obama explained. “But Hillary’s been in the room. She’s been part of those decisions.”
Obama drew a contrast between Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump, who bedeviled Obama during his presidency by pushing discredited birther-movement claims that Obama was born in Kenya, and thus ineligible to be president.
“Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and she keeps her cool, and she treats everybody with respect. And no matter how daunting the odds, no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits. That is the Hillary I know,” Obama said.
He began his speech by looking back on his own presidency. “I am more optimistic about the future of America than ever before. How could I not be after all that we’ve achieved together?” he said.
When he mentioned Trump, many booed. “Don’t boo,” Obama responded. “Vote.”
At another point, Obama said, “people outside the United States don’t understands what’s happening in this election,” because they know Clinton is qualified.
“I think it’s fair to say this is not your typical election,” he said in a bit of understatement, then added: “This is a more fundamental choice about who we are as a people.”
Obama said the comments at Trump’s Republican National Convention didn’t feel like America.
“What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other and turn away from the rest of the world,” he revealed, but America isn’t about hate.
“That is not the America I know,” he said. “The America I know is decent and generous.”
Obama brought many to their feet when he described all Americans banding together under the same flag. As he praised Clinton, they chanted “Hillary, Hillary.”
And as he described his primary fight with Clinton in 2008, someone called out “four more years.”
Obama then paraphrased an old joke about Ginger Rogers, saying that in 2008, Clinton did what he did “backwards and in heels.”
He also joined other speakers who have criticized Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
“America is already great,” Obama said. “Our greatness doesn’t depend on Donald Trump.”
“America’s never been about what one person says he can do for us,” he added. “It’s about what can be done by us.”
He also took aim at Trump’s plan to make Mexico build a border wall.
“The American dream is something no wall will ever contain,” Obama said.
16 Famous Faces You'll See at the Democratic Convention
Eva Longoria spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2012 in support of President Barack Obama and will introduce New Jersey Senator Cory Booker the first night of the DNC this year.
Katy Perry has showed her support for Clinton from day one. Her hit song "Roar" has become one of Clinton's unofficial campaign anthems.
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Shailene Woodley
Fresh off her cross-country pro-Sanders road trip from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, the "Divergent" star is working to keep Sanders' "political revolution" alive. Woodley arrived in the City of Brotherly Love on Sunday, where she headlined a rally for climate change along with Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover.
Rosario Dawson, perhaps the most forthright Hollywood Sanders supporter, said she is heading to Philadelphia to protest the DNC after internal party emails released by WikiLeaks suggested the DNC favored Clinton over Sanders during the primaries.
Demi Lovato has been on #TeamClinton from day one, lending her voice and her hit song "Confident" to the Clinton campaign during a rally in Iowa earlier this year.
Oscar winner Susan Sarandon has been one of Sanders' biggest die-hard supporters in Hollywood, coming under fire for saying that Clinton could be "more dangerous" than Donald Trump and that she wasn't sure whether she'd vote for Clinton in the general election.
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Tony Goldwyn
Looks like another U.S. President wants to see Hillary in the White House. Goldwyn, best known for playing fictional president Fitz Grant on ABC's "Scandal," helped the Clinton campaign last December in Iowa and will be speaking at the DNC.
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Elizabeth Banks
Banks tweeted on July 20 that she would be joining America Ferrera, Eva Longoria and Lena Dunham at the DNC. The actress-producer-director also appeared at a Clinton rally at West Los Angeles College in June.
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Debra Messing
A strident Clinton supporter, Messing got into a Twitter feud with Bernie Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon last March. Sarandon had suggested in an interview on MSNBC that she would consider voting for Trump over Clinton if Sanders lost the nomination.
Both Messing and Sarandon are set to appear at the DNC, so keep an eye on their Twitter accounts.
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Snoop Dogg
Snoop is set to headline the DNC's "Unity Party" at the Electric Factory on Thursday. The rapper announced last year that he's voting for Clinton in the election.
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The retired NBA player tweeted his support for Clinton and also penned an op-ed in Time magazine last December explaining how Donald Trump and ISIS shared several similarities.
Lady Gaga has been on Clinton's side since the early days of the campaign and has continued to voice her support since. Along with Lenny Kravitz and DJ Jazzy Jeff, Gaga will headline a concert in New Jersey on Thursday for DNC delegates and guests.
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Alicia Keys
The singer is set to participate on a panel hosted by Politico about criminal justice reform and civil rights, after which she will perform.
Keys and Jay Z's "Empire State of Mind" has also been used as a Clinton victory song during the New York primaries.
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Bryan Cranston
"The Infiltrator" and "Breaking Bad" star will be a featured guest at a DNC luncheon hosted by House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Though Cranston is a Hillary supporter, the actor has praised Trump's candor in the past.
Lena Dunham has been one of Clinton's most vocal supporters in Hollywood. The "Girls" creator and star not only joined Clinton on the campaign trail, but has even taken over her Instagram account for a day.
America Ferrera has been a die-hard Clinton fan ever since her 2008 presidential run. On the day Clinton announced her second bid for the presidency, Ferrera tweeted a picture of herself stumping for Clinton in 2008 along with the caption, "I believed in her then, I believe in her now."
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From Snoop Dogg to Katy Perry, Philadelphia gets a taste of Hollywood when the Democratics comes to town