Michelle Obama delivered a blistering criticism of Donald Trump's presidency on Monday night, Aug. 17 (U.S. time), calling him the "wrong president for our country."

"He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head," she said in an impassioned address on the first night of the Democratic National Convention.

"He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is."

In a scathing analysis of Trump's time in office, the former first lady said that instead of providing leadership, Trump's administration had given the American people "chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy".

Obama also commented on Trump's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, drawing a contrast with how her husband's administration had suppressed an Ebola outbreak and overseen "a record-breaking stretch of job creation".

"Four years later, the state of this nation is very different. More than 150,000 people have died, and our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long. It has left millions of people jobless."

A glowing review for Joe Biden

The Democratic National Convention will be taking place from Aug. 17 to 20, and will see Joe Biden officially receive the party's nomination as a candidate for this year's presidential elections.

This year's convention was held virtually instead of in-person due to the pandemic.

Biden had served as vice president in Barack Obama's administration and received a glowing review from the former first lady.

"I know Joe. He is a profoundly decent man, guided by faith," she said.

"He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic, and lead our country."

However, Obama did not mention the Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Fox News reports that this was because she had recorded her speech before Harris had been announced as Biden's running mate.

Change of tone from Obama

According to The New York Times, the speech represented a change of direction for Obama who had previously been reluctant to engage in political combat.

Described as the "most political popular" political figure in the U.S., Obama's speech this time around carried a very different tone from her rousing, optimistic address at 2016's convention.

Obama maintained the need to refrain from the "degrading and dehumanising" characteristics of "low" politics, saying:  "Going high is the only thing that works".

"But let's be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty," she said.

In analysing the first night of the convention, Anthony Zurcher from the BBC wrote that Obama was targeting loyal Democrats with her speech, specifically those who may not have voted in 2016.

Her goal, wrote Zurcher was to get such voters to realise the gravity of the moment.

"If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can; and they will if we don’t make a change in this election,” said Obama.

"If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it."

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Top image from Democratic National Convention website