'He will tear down democracy to win.' Barack Obama flames Donald Trump for narcissism, conspiracy theories, corruption and laziness and calls his presidency a 'reality show for the attention he craves' as he pleads with people to vote for Joe Biden (32 Pics)

Barack Obama unleashed on President Donald Trump in his speech to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, saying the administration would do anything to win even if it meant tearing down America's democracy.

He made a clear, concise argument on why he believes Trump was unqualified to serve in the Oval Office, sounding presidential as he made his case - but also painted a dark vision of the consequences of a second Trump term.

'This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that's what it takes to win,' he charged in his nearly 20 minute speech, a condemnation of a president by a previous one without historical precedent.

Trump fired back at Obama in an all-caps outburst on Twitter, claiming that 'HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!' and deriding Democratic nominee Joe Biden as 'SLOW JOE'. 

The president also said that Obama had 'refused to endorse' Biden until late in the Democratic primary and 'tried to get him not to run'  

Obama told Americans last night that the only way to restore the country was to elect Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris in November.

'We have to get busy building it up – by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before – for Joe and Kamala, and candidates up and down the ticket, so that we leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for – today and for all our days to come,' said Obama, his hair gray and demeanor serious.  

He put aside post-presidential precedent to deliver an indictment of the man who succeeded him in the Oval Office, calling him lazy, dangerous, and corrupt, accusing him of abusing the military as props, of gassing peaceful protesters and of being willing to do anything for a second term.

And he tried to address Trump voters directly saying he understood why they felt government didn't work - but decried conspiracy theories, incompetence and the deaths of 170,000, saying: 'He hasn't grown into the job because he can't' and turning the presidency into 'a reality show for the attention he craves.'

Obama had swapped places with Kamala Harris to let her end the night - allowing his prosecution of Trump to be followed by her upbeat speech focused on her own story and a message of hope. 

Harris introduced herself to voters and told them her story, an American story: her immigrant parents, her birth in California - a likely dig a Trump trying to once again promote 'birther' conspiracy claims - meeting her husband Doug on a blind date, her sorority sisters from a historically black sisterhood and her stepchildren, and most of all her late mother, an Indian immigrant. 

Democrats made clear they were vying for female votes, filling Wednesday's program with women: actresses including Kerry Washington and Mariska Hargitay, who gave Joe Biden an endorsement, and Gabby Giffords, the shooting survivor who said: 'I struggle to speak, but I have not lost my voice.'

Both Hillary Clinton - the first female presidential nominee - and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - the nation's first female speaker - spoke, but Pelosi got a higher billing. 

And the night was capped off with Harris' nomination to the vice presidential slot. In her remarks, she also played the traditional role a running mate plays - she attacked the rival party's presidential nominee.

She didn't mention Trump by name but she made it clear who she was referring to. 

She targeted Trump for his ''chaos, incompetence and lost lives' and joked, as she talked about her backstory as a prosecutor, 'I know a predator when I see one.' 

But Obama led the attack on Trump. He spoke before Harris, a switch in the speaking order made at the request of the former president so he could hand off from his time as party leader to the next generation. 

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Barack Obama unleashed his most direct, harshest to date on the man who followed him into the Oval Office in his speech to the Democratic National Convention

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Kamala Harris closed out Wednesday night's program and officially became the Democrats' vice presidential nominee

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Joe Biden joined Kamala Harris on stage after she wrapped up her remarks; the two are now officially the Democratic ticket with Biden giving his speech Thursday night

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The spouses also joined: Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris with Joe and Jill Biden

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President Trump responded to Obama's speech in a string of tweets written in all caps

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Former President Barack Obama spoke from the Museum of the American Revolution Wednesday night as part of the virtual Democratic National Convention 

Obama's criticism was his most direct, harshest to date on the man who followed him into the Oval Office. Obama, on previous occasions, to the frustration of his fellow Democrats, had followed the unspoken rule that former presidents don't question or criticize the current office holder.

That rule went to the sidelines on Wednesday night.

Obama charged Trump hasn't grown into the job of president of the United States 'because he can't' and he's shown 'no interest in putting in the work' to be an effective leader.

'I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president,' Obama said, making a personal connection to the two candidates running for his old job.

'I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care,' he said.

'Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't,' Obama said.

The former president said he understood why there was cynicism and despair in the United States under Trump's presidency, saying he understood 'why a Black mother might feel like it never looked out for her at all.;

He went on to mention some of the more disenfranchised groups, blocs that tend to vote Democrat when they vote. 

'I understand why a new immigrant might look around this country and wonder whether there's still a place for him here; why a young person might look at politics right now, the circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and crazy conspiracy theories and think, what's the point?' he said.

But he warned that attitude was being fostered by President Trump to keep Americans from voting.

'This president and those in power – those who benefit from keeping things the way they are – they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can't win you over with their policies. So they're hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn't matter. That's how they win,' he argued.

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Barack Obama, like his wife Michelle, urged Americans to make a plan to vote

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Michelle Obama told people: 'We have to vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored'

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In her remarks opening the Wednesday session of the convention, Kamala Harris also emphasized the importance of voting

He urged Americans – like his wife Michelle Obama did in her speech on Monday night – to have a plan to vote.

'Do not let them take away your power. Don't let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote. Do it as early as you can and tell your family and friends how they can vote too,' he said.

In her speech Monday night, where she too attack Trump in direct, harsh terms, Michelle Obama touched on Democratic fears that President Trump would try to delegitimize the election should Biden win.

'We have to vote for Joe Biden in numbers that cannot be ignored. Because right now, folks who know they cannot win fair and square at the ballot box are doing everything they can to stop us from voting,' she said.

Democrats fear voter disenfranchisement amid Trump's attacks on mail-in ballots as fraudulent - despite numerous studies that show that is not the case - and amid concerns about delays in the U.S. Postal Service could mean ballots do not arrive in time to be counted. 

Kamala Harris, in a break with tradition, made short remarks at the beginning of Wednesday's session to plead with people to have a voting plan. 

'So I think we need to ask oursvlves why don't they want us to vote? Why is there so much effort to silence our voices?' she asked. 'And the answer is because when we vote things change. When we vote things get better, when we vote we address the need for all people to be treated with dignity and respect in our country.' 

Barack Obama, in his speech, also charged President Trump, the former star of NBC's 'The Apprentice,' with running a 'reality show' out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue merely for the sake of his ego.

'For close to four years now, he's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves,' Obama said.

Trump issued his response via Twitter – sending out messages in all caps as Obama spoke.

'HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!,' Trump roared, referring to an FBI counter investigation into his 2016 presidential campaign to see if Russia was trying to influence the election.

'WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?,' Trump added.

Traditionally, the nominee of the other party stays quiet during their rival's convention week. Trump threw that rule out the window this week with his trips to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Arizona to criticize Biden. The president will give an interview to Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday night – the night Biden accepts the Democrats' presidential nomination - and he'll visit Pennsylvania that day too, making a stop near Biden's hometown of Scranton.

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President Obama gave a cool, calm, structured argument that outlined why he believed President Trump was not qualified to serve in the Oval Office

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Obama charged President Trump, the former star of NBC's 'The Apprentice,' with running a 'reality show' out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue merely for the sake of his ego; above Donald Trump is seen with contestants from Season 13 of the show in October 2012

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Barack Obama spoke from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, in front of an exhibit entitled 'Writing the Constitution,' in one of the few live speeches in the virtual convention

Obama spoke from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, in front of an exhibit entitled 'Writing the Constitution,' in one of the few live speeches in the virtual convention.

He gave a cool, calm, structured argument that outlined why he believed President Trump was not qualified to serve in the Oval Office.

'The one Constitutional office elected by all of the people is the presidency. So at minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us – regardless of what we look like, how we worship, who we love, how much money we have – or who we voted for,' he said.

'We should also expect a president to be the custodian of this democracy. We should expect that regardless of ego, ambition, or political beliefs, the president will preserve, protect, and defend the freedoms and ideals that so many Americans marched for and went to jail for; fought for and died for,' he noted.

Obama, a former law professor, began his remarks with a legal argument but transition to an endorsement of Biden's character and qualifications to be president.

He called his former vice president his 'brother' and spoke of his empathy.

'Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didn't know I'd end up finding a brother,' Obama said. 'Joe and I came from different places and different generations. But what I quickly came to admire about him is his resilience, born of too much struggle; his empathy, born of too much grief.'

He made his support the Biden/Harris ticket clear.

'For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president – and he's got the character and the experience to make us a better country. And in my friend Kamala Harris, he's chosen an ideal partner who's more than prepared for the job; someone who knows what it's like to overcome barriers and who's made a career fighting to help others live out their own American dream,' he said.

Obama targeted Trump's most controversial moments as president when he noted a 'Commander-in-Chief doesn't use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil.'

Not only did he target Trump's response to the Black Lives Matter protesters, he slammed the president for targeting the media and for questioning the patriotism of anyone who opposed him politically. 

And he said Trump simply makes stuff up. 

'They understand that political opponents aren't 'un-American' just because they disagree with you; that a free press isn't the 'enemy' but the way we hold officials accountable; that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depends on a fidelity to facts and science and logic and not just making stuff up,' he said.

He ended his speech with words of compassion. 

'Stay safe. God bless,' he said.

Ahead of his remarks, convention organizers showed a video from the January 13, 2017 White House ceremony when then-President Obama honoured Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation's highest civil honor - in a move to highlight the close bond the two shared during their time in office together. 

Obama, who spent most of his professional career in Chicago, has strong ties to Philadelphia. It was where he gave one of his most important speeches: when he talked about race when he ran for president in 2008.  

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President Obama gave one of his most consequential speeches of his Democratic primary fight against Hillary Clinton in 2008 in Philadelphia, where he spoke about race in America 

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President Obama will say in his speech he sat with both men in the Oval Office - he met with President-elect Trump on November 10, 2016

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Then-President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office in January 2015

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Hillary Clinton is seen waving to supporters on the last night of her 2016 campaign in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

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President Obama (left) appeared with 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton (right) on the last night of the 2016 campaign at an outdoor rally in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, just blocks away from where he'll address the 2020 DNC 

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Joe Biden (left) and Jill Biden (right), a Philadelphia native, greet throngs of supporters in Philadelphia in May 2019 as the former vice president kicked off his presidential campaign 

Philadelphia was also the site of the Democrats' convention four years ago. 

And Obama appeared alongside Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and his wife Michelle, on the eve of election night in 2016, at a packed, outdoor rally on the campus of Independence Hall.

But that last minute stop didn't help her campaign. 

Pennsylvania was the state that helped hand Trump the Oval Office - he was the first Republican to win it in more than 20 years. Biden, a native of Scranton, will try to put it back in Democrats' corner in November.

Kamala Harris officially becomes Democrats' VP candidate and launches assault on Donald Trump for 'chaos, incompetence and lost lives,' saying 'I know a predator when I see one' - and backs Joe Biden saying he will bring 'a better future' 

Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday night in Wilmington, Delaware, and was joined by Democratic nominee Joe Biden and their spouses onstage.

Harris attacked President Donald Trump for his 'chaos, incompetence and lost lives' and joked, as she talked about her backstory as a prosecutor, 'I know a predator when I see one.'

'Right now, we have a president who turns our tragedies into political weapons,' the California senator said. 'Joe will be a president who turns our challenges into purpose.'

She talked about her American story: her immigrant parents, her birth in California - a likely dig at Trump trying to once again push 'birther' rumors about a Democratic candidate of color - meeting her husband Doug on a blind date, her sorority sisters from a historically black sisterhood.

'She taught us to put family first - the family you're born into and the family you choose,' Harris said of her mother, the late Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

And she talked about getting justice for George Floyd and for Breonna Taylor, two black Americans who were killed by white officers.

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Sen. Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination Wednesday night in Wilmington, Delaware

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Kamala Harris only had reporters in her audience Wednesday night as the country continues to be impacted by the coronavirus crisis 

Harris' speech was the final addition to a women-fueled evening.

Both Hillary Clinton - the first female presidential nominee - and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - the nation's first femele speaker - spoke, but Pelosi got a higher billing. Actresses Kerry Washington and Mariska Hargitay made appearances, while 18-year-old, Billie Eilish sang. Sen. Elizabeth Warren gave her take on the economy.

Harris also got a stamp of approval from President Barack Obama, who eviscerated President Donald Trump in his remarks. Obama called her an 'ideal partner, who is more than prepared for the job.'

There was a lot of talk about Tuesday's anniversary that marked 100 years of the 19th Amendment, which allowed some American women to vote, but not everyone.

'Yet so many of the Black women who helped secure that victory were still prohibited from voting, long after its ratification,' Harris pointed out in her remarks.

She also spoke of the inequities laid bare by the current coronavirus crisis.

'And while this virus touches us all, let's be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately,' she said.

'This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other - and how we treat each other,' Harris remarked. 'And let's be clear - there is no vaccine for racism. We've gotta do the work.'

Earlier, she bucked tradition and opened up her night at the Democratic National Convention, asking supporters to make a voting plan as has pushed the narrative that there will be widespread voter fraud.

'So I think we need to ask oursvlves why don't they want us to vote? Why is there so much effort to silence our voices?' she asked. 'And the answer is because when we vote things change. When we vote things get better, when we vote we address the need for all people to be treated with dignity and respect in our country.'

The beginning of Harris' remarks served as her official introduction to voters who may not have paid attention to the early months Democratic primary, which she compete in.

She spoke of her Indian mother who came to the U.S. to try to cure cancer and who met her Jamaica father at University of California Berkeley.

'They fell in love in that most American way - while marching together for justice in the civil rights movement of the 1960s,' she said. 'In the streets of Oakland and Berkeley, I got a stroller's-eye view of people getting into what the great John Lewis called 'good trouble,'' she said in yet another reference to the civil rights pioneer this week at the DNC.

Lewis passed away last month.  

Harris also spoke of the grief she felt that her mother couldn't see that moment. 

'And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she’s looking down on me from above. I keep thinking about that 25-year-old Indian woman - all of five feet tall - who gave birth to me at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California,' she said.  

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Greeting: At the end of Kamala Harris' speech, Joe Biden walked on stage hand-in-hand with his wife Jill to congratulate his running mate

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'My love.' Kamala Harris spoke of her marriage to Doug Emhoff, a Los Angeles attorney, and her delight in being 'Momala' to his children from his first marriage - who introduced her before she started speaking

'On that day, she probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now speaking these words,' she said with a. pause. 

'I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America,' Harris said. 

She spoke of the country her mother raised her to believe that it was. 

'Today... that country feels distant,' she said. 'We're at an inflection point. The constant chaos leaves us adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone.' 

'It's a lot.'

'And here's the thing: We can do better and deserve so much more,' Harris said.  

She then spoke of Biden - how she knew him as he served in office, but also as her friend Beau Biden's dad. 

'And what also moved me about Joe is the work he did, as he went back and forth. This is the leader who wrote the Violence Against Women Act - and enacted the Assault Weapons Ban. Who, as vice president, implemented The Recovery Act, which brought our country back from The Great Recession,' she said. 'He championed The Affordable Care Act, protecting millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions. Who spent decades promoting American values and interests around the world, standing up with our allies and standing up to our adversaries.' 

She concluded by pressing the immense responsibility voters had to get Trump out of office. 

'Years from now, this moment will have passed. And our children and our grandchildren will look in our eyes and ask us: Where were you when the stakes were so high?' she said.  

'And we will tell them. We will tell them, not just how we felt. We will tell them what we did,' Harris said. 

BARACK OBAMA'S SPEECH TO THE 2020 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION

Good evening, everybody. As you’ve seen by now, this isn’t a normal convention. It’s not a normal time. So tonight, I want to talk as plainly as I can about the stakes in this election. Because what we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come.

I’m in Philadelphia, where our Constitution was drafted and signed. It wasn’t a perfect document. It allowed for the inhumanity of slavery and failed to guarantee women – and even men who didn’t own property – the right to participate in the political process. But embedded in this document was a North Star that would guide future generations; a system of representative government – a democracy – through which we could better realize our highest ideals. Through civil war and bitter struggles, we improved this Constitution to include the voices of those who’d once been left out. And gradually, we made this country more just, more equal, and more free.

The one Constitutional office elected by all of the people is the presidency. So at minimum, we should expect a president to feel a sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of all 330 million of us – regardless of what we look like, how we worship, who we love, how much money we have – or who we voted for.

But we should also expect a president to be the custodian of this democracy. We should expect that regardless of ego, ambition, or political beliefs, the president will preserve, protect, and defend the freedoms and ideals that so many Americans marched for and went to jail for; fought for and died for.

I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I never expected that my successor would embrace my vision or continue my policies. I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.

But he never did. For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.

Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.

Now, I know that in times as polarized as these, most of you have already made up your mind. But maybe you’re still not sure which candidate you’ll vote for – or whether you’ll vote at all. Maybe you’re tired of the direction we’re headed, but you can’t see a better path yet, or you just don’t know enough about the person who wants to lead us there.

So let me tell you about my friend Joe Biden.

Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didn’t know I’d end up finding a brother. Joe and I came from different places and different generations. But what I quickly came to admire about him is his resilience, born of too much struggle; his empathy, born of too much grief. Joe’s a man who learned – early on – to treat every person he meets with respect and dignity, living by the words his parents taught him: “No one’s better than you, Joe, but you’re better than nobody.”

That empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts – that's who Joe is.

When he talks with someone who’s lost her job, Joe remembers the night his father sat him down to say that he’d lost his.

When Joe listens to a parent who’s trying to hold it all together right now, he does it as the single dad who took the train back to Wilmington each and every night so he could tuck his kids into bed.

When he meets with military families who’ve lost their hero, he does it as a kindred spirit; the parent of an American soldier; somebody whose faith has endured the hardest loss there is.

For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president – and he’s got the character and the experience to make us a better country.

And in my friend Kamala Harris, he’s chosen an ideal partner who’s more than prepared for the job; someone who knows what it’s like to overcome barriers and who’s made a career fighting to help others live out their own American dream.

Along with the experience needed to get things done, Joe and Kamala have concrete policies that will turn their vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into reality.

They’ll get this pandemic under control, like Joe did when he helped me manage H1N1 and prevent an Ebola outbreak from reaching our shores.

They’ll expand health care to more Americans, like Joe and I did ten years ago when he helped craft the Affordable Care Act and nail down the votes to make it the law.

They’ll rescue the economy, like Joe helped me do after the Great Recession. I asked him to manage the Recovery Act, which jumpstarted the longest stretch of job growth in history. And he sees this moment now not as a chance to get back to where we were, but to make long-overdue changes so that our economy actually makes life a little easier for everybody – whether it’s the waitress trying to raise a kid on her own, or the shift worker always on the edge of getting laid off, or the student figuring out how to pay for next semester’s classes.

Joe and Kamala will restore our standing in the world – and as we’ve learned from this pandemic, that matters. Joe knows the world, and the world knows him. He knows that our true strength comes from setting an example the world wants to follow. A nation that stands with democracy, not dictators. A nation that can inspire and mobilize others to overcome threats like climate change, terrorism, poverty, and disease.

But more than anything, what I know about Joe and Kamala is that they actually care about every American. And they care deeply about this democracy.

They believe that in a democracy, the right to vote is sacred, and we should be making it easier for people to cast their ballot, not harder.

They believe that no one – including the president – is above the law, and that no public official – including the president – should use their office to enrich themselves or their supporters.

They understand that in this democracy, the Commander-in-Chief doesn’t use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil. They understand that political opponents aren’t “un-American” just because they disagree with you; that a free press isn’t the “enemy” but the way we hold officials accountable; that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depends on a fidelity to facts and science and logic and not just making stuff up.

None of this should be controversial. These shouldn’t be Republican principles or Democratic principles. They’re American principles. But at this moment, this president and those who enable him, have shown they don’t believe in these things.

Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala’s ability to lead this country out of these dark times and build it back better. But here’s the thing: no single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president. Democracy was never meant to be transactional – you give me your vote; I make everything better. It requires an active and informed citizenry. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability – to embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.

Because that’s what at stake right now. Our democracy.

Look, I understand why many Americans are down on government. The way the rules have been set up and abused in Congress make it easy for special interests to stop progress. Believe me, I know. I understand why a white factory worker who’s seen his wages cut or his job shipped overseas might feel like the government no longer looks out for him, and why a Black mother might feel like it never looked out for her at all. I understand why a new immigrant might look around this country and wonder whether there’s still a place for him here; why a young person might look at politics right now, the circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and crazy conspiracy theories and think, what’s the point?

Well, here’s the point: this president and those in power – those who benefit from keeping things the way they are – they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can’t win you over with their policies. So they’re hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter. That’s how they win. That’s how they get to keep making decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love. That’s how the economy will keep getting skewed to the wealthy and well-connected, how our health systems will let more people fall through the cracks. That’s how a democracy withers, until it’s no democracy at all.

We can’t let that happen. Do not let them take away your power. Don’t let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you’re going to get involved and vote. Do it as early as you can and tell your family and friends how they can vote too. Do what Americans have done for over two centuries when faced with even tougher times than this – all those quiet heroes who found the courage to keep marching, keep pushing in the face of hardship and injustice.

Last month, we lost a giant of American democracy in John Lewis. Some years ago, I sat down with John and the few remaining leaders of the early Civil Rights Movement. One of them told me he never imagined he’d walk into the White House and see a president who looked like his grandson. Then he told me that he’d looked it up, and it turned out that on the very day that I was born, he was marching into a jail cell, trying to end Jim Crow segregation in the South.

What we do echoes through the generations.

Whatever our backgrounds, we’re all the children of Americans who fought the good fight. Great grandparents working in firetraps and sweatshops without rights or representation. Farmers losing their dreams to dust. Irish and Italians and Asians and Latinos told to go back where they came from. Jews and Catholics, Muslims and Sikhs, made to feel suspect for the way they worshipped. Black Americans chained and whipped and hanged. Spit on for trying to sit at lunch counters. Beaten for trying to vote.

If anyone had a right to believe that this democracy did not work, and could not work, it was those Americans. Our ancestors. They were on the receiving end of a democracy that had fallen short all their lives. They knew how far the daily reality of America strayed from the myth. And yet, instead of giving up, they joined together and said somehow, some way, we are going to make this work. We are going to bring those words, in our founding documents, to life.

I’ve seen that same spirit rising these past few years. Folks of every age and background who packed city centers and airports and rural roads so that families wouldn’t be separated. So that another classroom wouldn’t get shot up. So that our kids won’t grow up on an uninhabitable planet. Americans of all races joining together to declare, in the face of injustice and brutality at the hands of the state, that Black Lives Matter, no more, but no less, so that no child in this country feels the continuing sting of racism.

To the young people who led us this summer, telling us we need to be better – in so many ways, you are this country’s dreams fulfilled. Earlier generations had to be persuaded that everyone has equal worth. For you, it’s a given – a conviction. And what I want you to know is that for all its messiness and frustrations, your system of self-government can be harnessed to help you realize those convictions.

You can give our democracy new meaning. You can take it to a better place. You’re the missing ingredient – the ones who will decide whether or not America becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed.

That work will continue long after this election. But any chance of success depends entirely on the outcome of this election. This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win. So we have to get busy building it up – by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before – for Joe and Kamala, and candidates up and down the ticket, so that we leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for – today and for all our days to come.

Stay safe. God bless.