US elections: Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders bat for Kamala Harris as next president

“Hope is making a comeback in America,” former first lady Michelle Obama said as she made an impassioned case for Kamala Harris and described her as the most qualified person ever to seek the office of the US president.

Michelle, in her speech to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night (August 20), described Vice President Harris as a candidate who worked her way up from a middle-class background, drawing on lessons from the two women’s late mothers.

Harris, 59, is scheduled to formally accept the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on Thursday (August 22) to take on Republican rival Donald Trump, 78, in the November 5 election.

‘Our mothers are our inspiration’: Michelle

Recollecting the death of her mother recently, Michelle, 60, said she was an inspiration for her and so was the mother of Harris.

"Her mother moved from India at 19,” she said, as she spoke about Harris' mother Shyamala Gopalan.

“Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment. She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency. And she is one of the most dignified tributes to her mother, to my mother, and probably to your mother too," said Michelle.

‘Everyone deserves an opportunity’

"Her story is your story, it's my story. It's the story of the vast majority of Americans trying to build a better life. Kamala knows, like we do, that regardless of where you come from, what you look like, who you love, who you worship, or what's in your bank account, we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent reputation. No one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American. No one,’ she said.

"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. If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don't get a second, third, or fourth chance," she said.

Criticises Trump

"Who's going to tell Trump that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those "Black jobs"? It's his same old con: doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people's lives better," she said.

“I don't care how you identify politically - whether you are a Democrat, Republican, independent, or none of the above - this is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right. To stand up not just for our basic freedoms, but for decency and humanity, for basic respect, dignity, and empathy. For the values at the very foundation of this democracy," she said.

"It's up to us to remember what Kamala's mother told her: "Don't just sit around and complain about something!'" she said.

‘Our fate is in our hands’

Michelle said that this election is going to be close.

"In some states, just a handful of votes in every precinct could decide the winner, So we need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt. We need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us. Our fate is in our hands,’ she said.

Elect Kamala Harris as the next President: Bernie Sanders

Senator Bernie Sanders on Tuesday urged the people of the United States to elect Vice President Kamala Harris as the next president of the country.

Sanders spoke of the critical importance of delivering a progressive economic agenda for the working-class Americans and taking on rampant corporate greed.

“We need an economy that works for all of us, not just the greed of the billionaire class. My fellow Americans, while 60 per cent of our people live paycheck to paycheck, the top 1 per cent have never had it so good. These oligarchs tell us we shouldn’t tax the rich; we shouldn’t take on price gouging; we shouldn’t expand medicare to cover dental, hearing, and vision; and we shouldn’t increase social security benefits for struggling seniors,” he said.

‘Get big money out of political process’

“At the top of that to-do list is the need to get big money out of our political process. Billionaires in both parties should not be able to buy elections - including primary elections,” the Vermont senator said.

“We need to join the rest of the industrialised world and guarantee health care to all as a human right, not a privilege. We need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, and pass the PRO Act so that workers can organise in unions for decent pay and decent benefits,” he said.

Sanders said public education needed to be strengthened, teacher salaries should be raised, and added that every American should receive higher education regardless of income.

"We need to take on 'Big Pharma' and cut prescription drug costs in half, so that we pay no more than other countries," the senator said.

(With agency inputs)