|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
CNN commentator Van Jones fawned over former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama for their speeches at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night.
“This was a masterful act of leadership,” Jones said of both speeches. “It was a sacred task. They took it on well. I didn‘t realize I had been in a spiritual desert until they created that oasis on that stage.”
“I didn’t know how much I missed them,” Jones said. “I missed that.”
“Biden transferred the machinery of the party to Kamala Harris,” Jones continued. “The Obamas renewed the magic of the movement. That’s what they were transferring. They did it beautifully. They did it powerfully. Obama used nostalgia in a beautiful way.”
FLASHBACK: OBAMA WAS ONE OF EARLIEST BIG-NAME DEMS TO ENDORSE WALZ AT DAWN OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER
Ahead of Biden dropping out of the race, Obama allies notably helped lead the charge in calling for the president to get out of the race in favor of a candidate they believed was more suitable to take on Trump.
Other media figures also heaped praise on the speeches, with CBS reporter John Dickerson calling the moment “nourishment.”
“These two speeches by the Obamas are going to serve that purpose,” Dickerson said.
Dickerson added that the speeches act as a “shield against what Donald Trump is doing, which is to say Kamala Harris is the other.”
OBAMA LAUDS ‘BROTHER’ BIDEN AT DNC WEEKS AFTER REPORTED ROLE OUSTING HIM FOR KAMALA HARRIS
MSNBC commentator Michael Steele said the speeches were an important reminder for voters.
“[It’s] a way of reminding us, ‘Y’all need to wake up because y’all have been sleep walking through some stupid,'” Steele said.
“You need to recognize where we are headed is not even where the Founders on their worst day in dealing with slavery and women and others in this country — we’re not even close to that,” he said. “We are so far removed, we’re in a whole different space here.”
Responding to Michelle Obama’s speech, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said that it was “stunning.”
“It was one of the best convention speeches I’ve ever seen by anybody in any circumstance,” she said. “Not just because she’s good at giving a speech but because it was subtle and deep and thought-provoking and surprising.”
Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
