On Monday night, the “big three” broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC made sure viewers knew they were ready run through a brick wall after hearing Michelle Obama’s “extraordinary,” “emotional,” “passionate,” and “practical” “sermon” that will be shared long afterward.
This was largely reminiscent of Obama’s 2016 DNC speech, which these same networks swooned over as an “artfully painted,” “[p]olished, passionate and personal” speech with her “trademark...grace” that they said left convention attendees crying tears of joy.
ABC chief anchor and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos was the lone voice before ABC signed off, so he made sure to deliver a partisan summation that would have made 1992 George proud:
A different kind of fierce there from Michelle Obama, explaining what she means by going high in these times, in this moment in history. Kind of a sermon on empathy, but she also wielded a sledgehammer against President Trump in that speech, direct and forceful. Her clear message, it is time to vote, vote early, if you can, underscored by that necklace, v-o-t-e.
Before Obama’s speech, Nightline co-host Byron Pitts preemptively dubbed it “the favorite auntie speech” because, “every family has” a “cool,” “kind,” and “smart aunt” like Democrats do in Michelle.
CBS was similarly in love. CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell responded to Obama by calling her “emotional,” “passionate,” and “personal” in giving an “extraordinary speech” that served as “a character endorsement of Joe Biden,” “a searing indictment of Donald Trump,” and “an exhortation to go out and vote.”
After Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett boasted it was “deeply emotional,” 60 Minutes correspondent John Dickerson described as a “break glass in case of emergency” speech where glass was “all over the place by the end.”
An enthused Dickerson continued: “This was an emergency speech by someone who is not a politician who has written one of the most successful books in modern times and the speech will be passed around...[T]his will have to be answered [by Republicans].”
O’Donnell agreed, predicting: “There were so many lines that will be discussed of the speech.”
Following former Univision anchor Maria Elena Salinas, Democratic strategist and fellow CBS News contributor Jamal Simmons closed out the night’s analysis by emphasizing that Michelle Obama can speak to the common man and woman (click “expand”):
People have got to show up and vote. Michelle Obama made that case. You know, she’s had such an interesting trajectory over her entire career in politics. When she first got started there were all the things people came after her, remember that New Yorker cover of her, like she was some radical, you know, black power person. She’s had this great trajectory and now she’s at this place where she’s an author, she’s a lawyer, she’s a mom, but she is channeling anxiety, she’s channeling frustration, hope and if you think about the path with people on the streets of the country, particularly Democrats, they are frustrated with babies at the border, they were frustrated with Charlottesville, they’re frustrated with George Floyd, people are traumatized and she talks about the trauma.
You talked about when you first started the conversation. She is somebody who really has found a way to channel that and let just keep it real. Michelle Obama keeps it real and that is a part of her appeal to the American public that they don't really see her playing politics.
Going lastly to NBC, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt went first after Obama’s speech and, like his compatriots, he was impressed: “Michelle Obama with a passionate endorsement of Joe Biden and, yes, she was critical of President Trump as we thought.”
Today co-host Savannah Guthrie agreed, calling the remarks “very practical” with “an indictment of President,” “an endorsement of Joe Biden,” and “getting out the vote.”
While ABC had Chris Christie on set and CBS featured Reince Preibus, NBC was the only network to have their Republican panelist respond to Obama’s speech. Thankfully for conservatives, they had National Review editor Rich Lowry (click “expand”):
HOLT: And, Rich, speak to this idea of getting out the vote. How important is it and how will it turn the corner for the Biden campaign?
LOWRY: Well, it's a major theme of tonight. It's a major theme of Michelle Obama's speech. I have to say this gives me no pleasure to say this as a Republican, but she's become a first class speaker. You saw her growing in this way during the eight years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was an effective piece of rhetoric. I will say, though, the emotion of this speech, the emotional punch was much more anti-Trump than pro-Biden. I would say the same thing was true of Bernie Sanders speech preceding it, so both the speeches in my mind more reflected the current dynamic of the race, which is all about Trump, more referendum on the President than it is about Biden per se and even though they both said very nice things about Joe Biden, clearly it was crawl over broken glass to go vote against the incumbent.
GUTHRIE: And our polls certainly demonstrate that, that there's enthusiasm in the Democratic Party, but the enthusiasm is far for more unseating President Trump than it is for electing Joe Biden.
This full-court press to churn out Biden/Harris voters was brought to you by Disney (on ABC and NBC), Lysol (on CBS), Sleep Number (on ABC). Follow the links to the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant network transcripts from August 17, “expand.”
ABC’s The Democratic National Convention -- Your Voice/Your Vote 2020
August 17, 2020
10:44 p.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And now it is time for the headliner of the night, Michelle Obama. I want to bring in Nightline anchor Byron Pitts for more on this. Michelle Obama claims not to like politics all that much, but by some measures, she's the most popular politician in America.
BYRON PITTS: Oh, George, without question. I think this is the most important speech tonight. As you said, she's the most popular Democrat in the country. I call this, George, the favorite auntie speech, right? Every family has one. The cool aunt, the smart aunt, the kind aunt and so, for the Democratic family, she is that. I think tonight, she speaks specifically, I think, in many ways to professional women, to suburban women, to women of color and to young people of color, that she can say that, look, that Biden/Harris may not be everything you want, but trust me, they will get us where we want to be. People forget, she was Barack Obama's not-so-secret weapon when he ran for president and I think she can be that, will be that for the Biden/Harris ticket.
STEPHANOPOULOS: She had that iconic phrase from four years ago, when they go low, we go high. Tonight, she will also serve as a character witness for former vice president Joe Biden.
(....)
11:04 p.m. Eastern
STEPHANOPOULOS: A different kind of fierce there from Michelle Obama, explaining what she means by going high in these times, in this moment in history. Kind of a sermon on empathy, but she also wielded a sledgehammer against President Trump in that speech, direct and forceful. Her clear message, it is time to vote, vote early, if you can, underscored by that necklace, v-o-t-e.
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CBS News: 2020 America Decides: Democratic Convention
August 17, 2020
11:04 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: And a passionate and emotional former First Lady of the United States and you see there, the watch parties from across the country, the applause for her remarks, with not only a character endorsement of Joe Biden but a searing indictment of Donald Trump. Trump and also an exhortation to go out and vote early as she said and in-person if you can. I want to bring in Valerie Jarrett, the former advisor to President Barack Obama and Valerie, extraordinary speech by the First Lady and I can't help think about even her in that earlier documentary, this year, Becoming, where she talked about her trauma, that people couldn't be bothered to vote in the 2016 election. This seemed so personal and so — she seemed so anguished the idea that people would not vote.
VALERIE JARRETT: Well, yes, of course she is deeply anguished because she predicted the results and now here we are four years later and it has turned out to be even worse than we would have imagined and it was a — it was a deeply emotional speech, you could hear it in her voice, shaking at times. Her love of her country is what motivated her to want to speak so candidly and directly. Now you know, Norah, why we used to call her the closer. Who better to end an evening about we the people than someone who knows the people, who’s traveled this country, red state, blue states and has seen our goodness and is so frustrated by what she is seeing coming out of this White House and so I think her knowing Joe Biden the way she does, having watched him up close and personally, knowing his character, his empathy, his willingness to listen and seeing how we are in chaos as she put it is what motivated her to give such a forthright direct and very clear message.
O’DONNELL: Valerie, thank you so much, let's bring in the rest of our panel and John, Michelle Obama saying if you think things can not possibly get worse, trust me, they can and they will.
JOHN DICKERSON: Yeah, I kept thinking of the on-alarms where it says break glass in case of emergency, there was glass all over the place by the end of this speech. This was an emergency speech by someone who is not a politician who has written one of the most successful books in modern times and the speech will be passed around and we talked about all the limitations of this convention, being able to give a speech that get passed around and motivates Democratic voters and also makes the character claim from a nonpolitical perspective, obviously at a convention, it is political but she is not a politician. This was, this will have to be answered and this again is the turf that the Democrats want the campaign to be on. Character because, as the former First Lady put it tonight, that is their direct attack at Donald Trump.
O’DONNELL: I mean, there were so many lines that will be discussed of the speech, as you mentioned but also we've got to be willing to pack our dinner, brown bag or maybe breakfast and wait in line all night. She made the case that, you know, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over three million but we know she lost the electoral vote in part because of more than 70,000 votes in three states. That it was that slim of a margin that people that didn't turn out to vote, that that makes a difference.
MARIA ELENA SALINAS: I think Michelle Obama understands her power and she is so effective not only because of the strength of her message but the clarity in which she presents it and she’s talking to everyone. She knows what to say and make sure again that she is inclusive. She talked about, well, maybe this, maybe you're not sure about Joe Biden. You know, he is a good guy and maybe you voted for Trump, he’s not the good guy, so I thought it was interesting the way she talked about Trump because usually she doesn't. She only kind-of-refers to him without saying his name. This time, she said his name. She said he's ineffective. She said he's not up to living this moment, and ending with it is what it is, which is a phrase that Trump used when he said how many people died, so many people die [sic], well, it is what it is. I think behind all of this it’s — she’s motivating people to get out and vote, even with the subliminal message of her small necklace that said vote.
O’DONNELL: Yes — and — and Jamal, it was as — as John described, that breaks the glass moment and yet, while Joe Biden holds a substantial lead, voter enthusiasm is still lacking for the head of the Democratic ticket. The party has got to be concerned that people will not mail-in those ballots, that they will not stand in line in the midst of a pandemic.
JAMAL SIMMONS: That's right. People have got to show up and vote. Michelle Obama made that case. You know, she’s had such an interesting trajectory over her entire career in politics. When she first got started there were all the things people came after her, remember that New Yorker cover of her, like she was some radical, you know, black power person. She’s had this great trajectory and now she’s at this place where she’s an author, she’s a lawyer, she’s a mom, but she is channeling anxiety, she’s channeling frustration, hope and if you think about the path with people on the streets of the country, particularly Democrats, they are frustrated with babies at the border, they were frustrated with Charlottesville, they’re frustrated with George Floyd, people are traumatized and she talks about the trauma. You talked about when you first started the conversation. She is somebody who really has found a way to channel that and let just keep it real. Michelle Obama keeps it real and that is a part of her appeal to the American public that they don't really see her playing politics.
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NBC Democratic National Convention
August 17, 2020
11:04 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Michelle Obama with a passionate endorsement of Joe Biden and, yes, she was critical of President Trump as we thought. She said Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country, but what this really was, Savannah, at least to me was a you've got to vote, an imperative. You've got to vote like your life depends on it.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: It was very practical. Yes, an indictment of President Trump, yes, an endorsement of Joe Biden, but it was so practical in terms of getting out the vote. We practically gave our polling places to voters. Let’s bring in —
HOLT: Do it tonight she said.
GUTHRIE: — yes exactly. Do it tonight, get your ballot and send it right back. Let's go to our contributors for NBC News. Claire Mccaskill, former senator from Missouri. We also have the editor of National Review here, Rich Lowry for the Republican side of things. I'll start with you, Senator McCaskill. This issue of voting in a pandemic, how big a concern is it?
CLAIRE MCCASKILL: Well, it's a big concern and she stated very clearly that people need to be aware of some of the shenanigans that are going on and I think, you know, when she told people they may have to back both a breakfast and a dinner and wait all day and don't leave the line, she is speaking directly to a lot of voters who feel like what Donald Trump has been doing lately is sending a very big signal that he wants to figure out ways for votes not to count. She was powerful tonight and I think she did a great job contrasting the character and personality of Joe Biden with that of the current President.
HOLT: And, Rich, speak to this idea of getting out the vote. How important is it and how will it turn the corner for the Biden campaign?
RICH LOWRY: Well, it's a major theme of tonight. It's a major theme of Michelle Obama's speech. I have to say this gives me no pleasure to say this as a Republican, but she's become a first class speaker. You saw her growing in this way during the eight years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was an effective piece of rhetoric. I will say, though, the emotion of this speech, the emotional punch was much more anti-Trump than pro-Biden. I would say the same thing was true of Bernie Sanders speech preceding it, so both the speeches in my mind more reflected the current dynamic of the race, which is all about Trump, more referendum on the President than it is about Biden per se and even though they both said very nice things about Joe Biden, clearly it was crawl over broken glass to go vote against the incumbent.
GUTHRIE: And our polls certainly demonstrate that, that there's enthusiasm in the Democratic Party, but the enthusiasm is far for more unseating President Trump than it is for electing Joe Biden. But whatever the reason, Democrats just want people to the polls and that clearly was the emphasis of the First Lady's speech.
