Warning of a difficult fight ahead, ex-president Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, called on the nation to embrace Kamala Harris in urgent messages to the Democratic National Convention that were at times both hopeful and combative.

“America, hope is making a comeback,” the former first lady declared. She then tore into Republican Donald Trump, a sharp shift from the 2016 convention speech in which she told her party: “When they go low, we go high.”

“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people, who also happened to be black,” she said of Trump.

Obama, the former president, called Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”.

“It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” he charged.

The fiery messages from two of the Democratic Party’s biggest stars underscored the urgency of the moment as Harris works to stitch together a broad coalition in her bid to defeat Trump.

She is drawing on stars like the Obamas and other celebrities, officials from the far left to the middle, and even some Republicans to boost her campaign.

And while the theme of the night was “a bold vision for America’s future”, the disparate factions of Harris’ evolving coalition demonstrated, above all, that they are connected by a deep desire to prevent a second Trump presidency.

AP