Barack Obama addresses Democratic National Convention

By Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Antoinette Radford, Maureen Chowdhury, Tori B. Powell, Jack Forrest and Chelsea Bailey, CNN,Wednesday, Aug 20: The Obamas take the stage: Former President Barack Obama said “America is ready for a better story” as he made a forceful case Tuesday night for Kamala Harris as president while slamming her opponent Donald Trump. He followed former first lady Michelle Obama, who declared that “hope is making a comeback.”

Second gentleman: The convention also heard from Doug Emhoff, who talked about his relationship to Harris as he praised her role as a stepmom to his children and as vice president.

Harris accepts nomination: Harris was campaigning in Milwaukee tonight alongside her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, but she symbolically accepted her historic presidential nomination in a video appearance after a rollicking roll call in Chicago. Harris, who will deliver her acceptance speech Thursday, became the official nominee earlier this month.

When America upholds its values, "the world's little brighter," Obama says on how US is viewed internationally

The whole world watches elections in the United States,former President Barack Obama reminded Americans.

“The rest of the world is watching to see if we can actually pull this off. No nation — no society — has ever tried to build a democracy as big and as diverse as ours before. One that includes people that, over decades, have come from every corner of the globe. One where our allegiances and our community are defined not by race or blood, but by a common creed.

”That’s why when we uphold our values, the world’s little brighter — when we don’t, the world’s a little dimmer, and dictators and autocrats feel emboldened, and over time we become less safe.

“We shouldn’t be the world’s policemen and we can’t eradicate every cruelty and injustice in the world, but America can be and must be a force for good — discouraging conflict, fighting disease, promoting human rights, protecting the planet from climate change, defending freedom, brokering peace. That’s what Kamala Harris believes and so to most Americans,” Obama said at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Barack Obama makes case for Harris: "She pushed me and my administration hard"

Former President Barack Obama said Kamala Harris pushed his administration hard to get results for Californians when she was the state’s attorney general.

“As an attorney general of the most populous state in the country, she fought big banks and for-profit colleges,” Obama said. “After the home mortgage crisis, she pushed me and my administration hard to make sure homeowners got a big settlement.”

“Didn’t matter that I was a Democrat,” Obama said. “Didn’t matter that she had knocked on doors for my campaign — she was going to fight to get as much relief as possible for the families who deserved it.”

"Bluster and bumbling and chaos": Barack Obama says US does not need four more years of Trump

Former President Barack Obama told the Democratic National Convention that America does not need four more years of a Donald Trump presidency, slamming his policies and his character.

Obama said Trump’s move to kill a bipartisan border deal in the Senate and strip reproductive rights for women hurt Americans. When the crowd booed, Obama said:

“Do not boo, vote.”

“We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos, we have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse,” Obama said.

He also levied personal attacks, calling Trump a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode his golden escalator nine years ago.”

He said Trump’s complaints are “getting worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala.”

“The childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes,” Obama said to loud to cheers from the crowd.

“America is ready for a new chapter. America is ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”

The election "will still be a tight race in a closely divided country," Barack Obama says

The election "will still be a tight race in a closely divided country," Barack Obama says

Former President Barack Obama reminded voters in his speech at the DNC Tuesday that the upcoming election will be a “tight race.”

“For all the incredible energy we’ve been able to generate over the last few weeks, for all the rallies and the memes — this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country,” he said at United Center in Chicago.

He urged voters to fight for the America they believe in.

As Americans consider which candidate is thinking about their future, Obama said, Donald Trump “is not losing sleep over that question.”

“Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually been getting worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” Obama said.

"The torch has been passed," Barack Obama says after lauding Joe Biden

Former President Barack Obama opened his speech with effusive praise toward his former vice president, but he added “the torch has been passed” as Kamala Harris now leads the Democratic Party.

“The torch has been passed,” he said. “Now it is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in — and make no mistake — it will be a fight.”

"History will remember Joe Biden," Barack Obama says of his former running mate

Barack Obama, in his speech to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, remembered choosing his former vice president, Joe Biden, 16 years ago and recognized his friend’s accomplishments as Biden passes the torch to his own running mate, Kamala Harris.

“Looking back, I can say without question that my first big decision as your nominee, turned out to be one of my best, and that was asking Joe Biden to serve by my side as vice president,” Obama told the crowd.

“Joe and I come from different backgrounds, but we became brothers,” he said, saying that what he came to admire was Biden’s empathy, decency and resilience.

Obama recalled feeling that America needed a leader after Donald Trump’s four years in office and during a global pandemic: “We needed a leader to put politics aside and do what was right.”

And when the economy was “reeling,” Obama said Biden’s policies turned the country around.

And now, Obama said, “at a time when the other party turned to a cult of personality, we needed a leader who was steady and brought people together and was selfless enough to do the rarest thing there is in politics — putting aside his own ambition for the sake of the country. History will remember Joe Biden as an outstanding president who defended democracy from great danger.”

“And I am proud to call him my president, but I am even prouder to call him my friend,” he said, before the crowd began chanting “thank you, Joe.”

Former President Barack Obama tells convention crowd Kamala Harris is giving him hope

Former President Barack Obama told the crowd at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday that he is “feeling hopeful” because Vice President Kamala Harris is ready to step into the White House.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling fired up. I’m feeling ready to go,” he said.

He was introduced by his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama.

“This convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible,” Obama said to cheers from the crowd. “Because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her.”

The 44th president is expected to give a “forceful affirmation” that Vice President Kamala Harris is the right person to lead the country in this moment, an adviser previously said.

A long, intertwined history: While the Democratic convention here this week represents a passing of the torch from President Joe Biden to Harris, it also underscores how her candidacy is forever intertwined with Biden and Obama.

Harris’ quick ascension to the top of the Democratic Party would have been unlikely without the swift endorsement of Biden – whose own presidency was made possible in no small part by Obama.

Obama also played a key role in Harris’ election as California attorney general in 2010, endorsing her candidacy and later endorsing her in California’s all-Democratic Senate race.