“Small is petty”: Michelle Obama's clever critique of Trump receives widespread acclaim.

 The former first lady criticized and mocked Trump's use of race for political advantage during her speech.

Michelle Obama is receiving widespread acclaim for her powerful critique of Donald Trump during her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

The former first lady cleverly mocked Trump and condemned his exploitation of race for political gain in a 20-minute address that was met with enthusiastic applause from Democratic delegates in her hometown of Chicago.

“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to instill fear in people,” Obama stated, highlighting his narrow worldview that made him feel threatened by the success of two accomplished Black individuals—referring to herself and her husband, Barack Obama. She pointed to Trump’s long-standing animosity toward her husband’s presidency, including his promotion of the false conspiracy theory about Barack’s birthplace.

In her speech, Obama also addressed Trump’s recent use of the term “Black jobs” during a debate with Joe Biden, where he claimed illegal immigrants posed an economic threat to African Americans.

“I want to know, ‘Who’s going to tell him?’” Michelle Obama asked. “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?” This remark sparked sustained cheers at the convention and garnered praise on social media.

That wasn’t her only sharp jab at Trump. She also reversed the narrative by using the term “affirmative action”—typically associated with government-mandated racial quotas, which right-wing Republicans often criticize—to reference the former president’s inherited wealth as the offspring of a successful real estate magnate.

In her praise for Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama remarked, “She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth.”

With a clever jab, she seemed to parody Trump’s infamous descent down the golden escalator at Trump Tower in 2015, referencing the everyday challenges faced by many Black Americans and others. “If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top,” Obama stated.

She also subtly referenced her earlier “we go high” mantra from the 2016 Democratic convention, framing Trump as inconsequential and suggesting that his approach is to “go small.” “Going small is never the answer,” she declared. “Small is petty, it’s unhealthy and, quite frankly, it’s unpresidential.”

The New York Times noted her shift in tone from “When they go low, we go high” to “when they go low, we call it out.” Rachel Maddow of MSNBC praised her speech as “one of the best convention speeches I’ve ever seen by anybody in any circumstance … because it was subtle and deep and thought-provoking and surprising … Just a stunning speech.”

Commentators highlighted Obama’s use of mockery and humor to demystify the Republican candidate, a tactic also employed by Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, who has labeled Trump and his fellow MAGA Republicans as “weird.” This phrase has resonated with pro-Harris supporters and has begun to replace the Democrats’ earlier narrative of fear regarding a potential second Trump presidency.

Politico described her approach to Trump, as well as Barack Obama’s subsequent speech—which included a subtle jab at Trump’s fixation on crowd size—as an effort to “make him small.” In contrast, Biden’s campaign had long portrayed Trump as a formidable threat to democracy.

Barack Obama echoed his wife’s disdain in his own series of pointed remarks aimed at the former president, whom he had previously mocked at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, an event often credited with motivating Trump to run for office. “This is a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago,” the former president quipped.

Reflecting on the possibility of a second Trump administration, he added, “We don’t need four more years of bluster and bubbling and chaos; we have seen that movie before—and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse.”