Obama hands over to Clinton and attacks Trump
US president's speech at the DNC refers to Hillary Clinton as the most qualified person to lead the country
- Donald Trump labelled a "home-grown demagogue" by outgoing leader
Barack Obama came out in support of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, as the current president winds down his second term in the White House.
On day 3 of the party's national convention in Philadelphia, Obama also attacked Clinton's Republican rival Donald Trump, calling the billionaire tycoon a "home-grown demagogue".
The DNC has progressed steadily after an uncomfortable opening day in which supporters of defeated candidate Bernie Sanders disrupted proceedings by heckling speakers, a sign of the division within the party caused by the Vermont senator's radical policies.
Obama calmed the storm on Wednesday however, a day after Clinton's husband and former president Bill provided her with a warm endorsement.
President Obama: "The American dream is something no wall will ever contain." #DemConvention #DNCinPHLhttps://t.co/wZKunGXFd9
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 28, 2016
He called Clinton a "leader with real plans to break down barriers, blast through glass ceilings and widen the circle of opportunity to every single American".
Referring to Trump, the president inverted the businessman's now ingrained mantra of attempting to "make America great again", by saying that “America is already great."
Obama recounted some of his years in the White House, saying that there was still plenty of things that he wanted to achieve.
“Yes, we have still got more work to do,” said Obama, believing that change does not hapepn overnight and that he had always insisted “we wouldn’t meet all of our challenges in one term, or one presidency, or even in one lifetime”.
Earlier in the day, vice-president Joe Biden delivered a rousing speech in which he denounced the emthods employed by Trump to win votes ahead of the election.
“He is offering slogans and fear," Biden proclaimed. "He is betting that if he scares enough people, he might win just enough votes to win this election, and that’s another bet that Donald Trump will lose.”
Donald Trump responded to comments from the convention via Twitter.
"Our country does not feel 'great already' to the millions of wonderful people living in poverty, violence and despair," he said via the social network.
Our country does not feel 'great already' to the millions of wonderful people living in poverty, violence and despair.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 28, 2016