Former First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the opening night of the four-day virtual Democratic National Convention by delivering a speech slamming President Donald Trump.
But she made a mistake that no one in the Democratic Party caught… until it was too late.
It wasn’t just the lie about the Obama administration’s child separation policy —
Where are the fact checkers? @MichelleObama lied in speech last night. Border children were put in cages by @BarackObama, who had the cages built. #maga2020 #Election2020
— Victoria Toensing (@VicToensing) August 18, 2020
Instead, it was a glaring omission about Biden’s campaign ticket.
Why did Michelle fail to mention the Democrats’ new star, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is in the limelight following last week’s major announcement?
Many pundits and social media users speculated about the glaring omission — and the reason for the snub quickly went viral.
In fact, even CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed it out. Michelle Obama’s keynote segment — the climax of the all-important first night of her party’s national convention that formally nominates former Vice President Joe Biden — was badly outdated.
She recorded it three weeks ago, and didn’t bother to update the speech.
Tapper wrote on twitter:
“If you’re wondering why there was no reference in @MichelleObama speech to @KamalaHarris, her speech was taped before Harris was selected to be Biden’s running mate, multiple aides to the Obamas tell CNN.”
If you’re wondering why there was no reference in @MichelleObama speech to @KamalaHarris, her speech was taped before Harris was selected to be Biden’s running mate, multiple aides to the Obamas tell CNN.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 18, 2020
During the speech, the former First Lady also incorrectly cited a COVID-19 death toll, saying that the U.S. totaled 150,000 fatalities due to the virus — a number dating back to June 29th.
That number has since risen to more than 170,000, according to multiple sources.
Many critics are wondering exactly why Obama couldn’t fix the omission — the VP announcement was made last Wednesday.
The New York Post is reporting that the decision to nominate Harris was kept so close to the vest in the Biden camp that the Obamas had no idea she would be selected.
But the Obama team had 5 days to fix the error… and they just didn’t bother.
Conservative political experts understand that Ms. Obama can rally the liberal base — so the opportunity to acknowledge Harris at the DNC fresh off the VP nomination seems like a missed opportunity.
Whether it’s a lack of enthusiasm or a lack of focus, either one is equally concerning for the Democrats.
The Horn editorial team