Hope in the air, Obamas say stumping for Harris at DNC

Former President and former First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama gave ringing endorsements for Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention. They also targeted former President Donald Trump more specifically than they have in the past. Michelle accused Trump of behaving unpresidential and said the country deserves better. Barack poked fun at Trump’s habit of comparing rally crowd sizes and claimed he held up policy — specifically, by criticizing an immigration bill earlier this year. This provoked booing from the crowd, at which Obama pulled out his catchphrase: “Don’t boo, vote!” Michelle characterized the Democratic ticket as a vote for hope.

“Something wonderfully magical is in the air,” she said. “It’s the contagious power of hope. America, hope is making a comeback.”

What else happened? The convention conducted a musical roll call to again cast delegate votes by state for the Harris-Walz ticket. While delegates completed a virtual roll call last week, the convention ran through all states and territories again to formalize the nomination. DJ Cassidy emceed the event, with states casting their votes to tunes themed for each state or featuring a musical artist from the state. Harris’ husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, also spoke Tuesday night about how he met and married Harris. He described their blended family as a picture of the country. At the end, Vice President Kamala Harris offered brief virtual remarks from Milwaukee where she was holding a rally in the same arena that hosted the RNC last month. Harris will give her formal acceptance speech on Thursday to conclude the convention.

Have the protesters calmed down, yet? Chicago police installed extra layers of barricades around the United Center following a brief breach on Monday. Gaza war protesters attempted to disrupt an Israeli rally in Chicago on Tuesday evening. Police kept both groups separated, but later in the evening, activists marched on the Israeli consulate in Chicago. They fought with officers and burned an American flag, according to video footage posted on social media. The National Lawyers Guild, which provided legal observers for the protesters, said that police arrested more than 70 people. Some of those arrested wore helmets marked “press.” Chicago police superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters that all detainees were being processed last night and that anyone participating in unlawful action was taken into custody regardless of affiliation. WORLD observed that several activists covering the rallies identified themselves as press.

Dig deeper: Listen to my report on The World and Everything in It about themes at the DNC so far.