--- title: Donald Trump Takes Center Stage at the Democratic Convention description: An attempt to return the favor after Republican Convention canonical: https://time.com/4427753/dnc-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-28T03:46:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:44:20.922Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Takes Center Stage at the Democratic Convention og:description: An attempt to return the favor after Republican Convention og:url: https://time.com/4427753/dnc-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ea625888163f12d/69889fefa988ca8b016b8d79/joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: US Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Takes Center Stage at the Democratic Convention twitter:description: An attempt to return the favor after Republican Convention twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ea625888163f12d/69889fefa988ca8b016b8d79/joe-biden.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Plays Starring Role at the Democratic Convention > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c7a3b769-f74c-4e0c-8de8-47eb6d6e8a79&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Watch Obama's Speech at the Democratic National Convention [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Obama's Speech at the Democratic National Convention](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RO7XpHwY.m3u8) (2:52)  _Published 2016-07-28. President Barack Obama took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday, highlighting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s qualifications for office, laid out his own record and attacked GOP nominee Donald Trump._ by [Zeke J Miller / Philadelphia](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke J Miller / Philadelphia Jul 28, 2016 3:46 AM UTC by [Zeke J Miller / Philadelphia](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke J Miller / Philadelphia Jul 28, 2016 3:46 AM UTC For the first two nights of the Democratic National Convention convention, Donald Trump’s presence was hardly felt as the party struggled with its own unification. On Wednesday night, the Republican nominee starred front-and-center, as a parade of speakers delivered blistering assaults and withering critiques of his policy positions, judgment, and preparedness for the White House. “America is already great,” Obama said, rejecting Trump’s slogan and criticizing the gloomy tone at the GOP convention in Cleveland last week. “America is already strong,” he continued, comparing Trump’s claims that he alone can fix things to the rhetoric of kings and dictators. “We don’t look to be ruled.” The message was carefully rolled out over the course of several hours on cable and primetime television by a campaign that has a plan to dismantle Trump’s reputation over the next 103 days. It began with a biting [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qznPnKG9zko) splicing together prominent Republicans warning of the consequences of Donald Trump’s foreign policy statements and questioning whether he has the temperament to hold the nuclear launch codes. It concluded with the President of the United States taking his would-be successor to task as a business fraudster who had rejected core American values. Speakers called out what they called Trump’s “me-first” policies, and raised alarm over his national security positions. Vice President Joe Biden joined in the attacks on Trump, who doubled down on his call for the reversal of the Obama administration’s ban on torture and “enhanced interrogation” earlier in the day. “We can’t elect a man that embraces the tactics of our enemies,” Biden said. “Donald Trump with all of his rhetoric would literally make us less safe.” While the attacks were long-planned, Trump’s call in a press conference Wednesday for Russia to hack Clinton’s email, drew fresh condemnation from the foreign policy experts who took the stage. The added lines come as the Clinton administration is looking to cast Trump as a threat, rather than a sideshow. “This morning, he personally invited Russia to hack us,” said Rear Admiral John Huston (Ret.), a former Republican who endorsed Obama in 2008\. “That’s not law and order. That’s criminal intent.” “Donald Trump today once again took Russia’s side,” added Obama’s former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. “He asked the Russians to interfere in American politics.” Panetta recounted Clinton’s role in the operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, arguing it gave her unrivaled experience for the job of president. “The only candidate for president who has the experience, temperament, and judgment to be Commander-in-Chief is Hillary Clinton,” he said. “This is no time to gamble with our future.” Huston, the former U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General, warned that Trump would violate international law with his support for torture, while arguing his bombast made the nation less safe. “Donald Trump is a walking, talking recruiting poster for terrorists,” he said. “That’s not hyperbole. ISIS literally used Trump in a commercial.” Kristen Kavanaugh, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant, argued Trump wouldn’t pass muster with the military. “The military is defined by discipline. Leadership. Integrity. Those are the qualities that drew me to serve,” she said. “And those are the very qualities that Donald Trump lacks.” That was followed by an appeal to independent voters. Calling Trump a “dangerous demagogue” and a “con” former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a political independent who ran for office as a Republican, recounted Trump’s bankruptcies and checkered business record of outsourcing and hiring those in the U.S. illegally—contrary to his public stances. “Truth be told, the richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy,” the billionaire media mogul said. Then it was time for Clinton’s running mate to show his skills as a knife-fighter. “He never tells you how he’s going to do any of the things he says he’s going to do,” Kaine said of Trump. “He just says, ‘believe me.’ So here’s the question. Do you really believe him? Donald Trump’s whole career says you better not.” ## Transcript I am more optimistic about the future of America. [ NOISE ] Than never before. I see Americans at every party, every background, every faith who believed that we are stronger together. [ NOISE ] Black, white, Latino, ASEAN, Native American, young, old, gays, straight, men and women Folks with disabilities all pledging allegiance under the same proud flag to this big, bold country that we love. That's what I see. Nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office. You can read about it. You can study it. But until you've sat at that desk You don't know what it's like to manage a global crisis, or send young people to war, but Hillary's been in the room. She's been part of those decisions. There has never been a man or a woman Not me, not Bill, nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of United States of America. [ APPLAUSE ] Take a look at her choice of running mate. He will make Hillary a better president, just like My dear friend and brother, Joe Biden, has made me a better person. [ APPLAUSE ] And then, there's Donald Trump. Boo. Don't boo, vote. Does anyone really believe that a guy who spent his 70 years on this earth Showing no regard for working people, is suddenly gonna be your champion. Your voice. [ APPLAUSE ] We all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders' supporters have been during this election. [ APPLAUSE ] That's right, feel the Bern. [ APPLAUSE ] Not yes she can, not yes I can, yes we can. Home grown demagogues will always fail in the end. And tonight I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. [ APPLAUSE ] I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me. I'm asking you to join me to reject cynicism and reject fear. And to summon what is best in us to let Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States. [ APPLAUSE ] And show the world. [ APPLAUSE ] We still believed in the promise of this great nation. [ APPLAUSE ] Thank you for this incredible journey. [ APPLAUSE ] Let's keep it going. 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