Los Angeles (Special to ZennieReport.com) – Your pooler covered FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden remarks and the introduction – there was not a performance – by Barbara Streisand, at the start of tonight’s program.
The music icon was effusive in praising the First Lady Dr. Jill Biden for blazing her own trail in the role. She described her as a loving wife and mother, a doting grandmother and also someone who was down to earth.
“She’s the neighbor everyone wishes they have, not the type that suddenly flies an American flag upside down,” Streisand said to laughter and groans.
FLOTUS took the stage at 7:15pm. She talked about the story of punching a neighborhood bully who had “tormented” her younger sister when she was just 13.
“My 13 year old self was right about one thing, when bullies threaten our loved ones we don’t just stand by,” she said. She said everyone was here tonight to show Donald Trump “exactly how we deal with bullies. … We don’t cower, we don’t turn way. We show up. We speak up.”
FLOTUS then laid out the contrast of the election as she sees it —
“Joe, a man who has dedicated his life to serving his community. Who honors the rule of law instead of trying to bend it to his own will. And rallies the world to fight for democracy and freedom. A president who wakes up every morning thinking about how he can make the lives of Americans better.”
“Or,” she continued, “we can choose someone who wakes up every morning caring bout one person and one person only. Himself.”
“Trump has told us again and again why he wants the White House. To give himself absolute power. To not be held accountable for his criminal actions. … To destroy the democratic safeguards that stand in his way,” FLOTUS said.
FULLER READOUT:
Pool was initially brought into the theater before the program began. Guests were still taking their seats – your poorer saw Keegan-Michael Key greeting members of the Biden family near their front row seats, including Hunter and Ashley Biden, Hunter’s children and Peter Neal.
At 6:56 p the house lights went down and an introductory video played, a highlight reel of sorts of Presidents Biden & Obama, and then the other celebrity hosts.
At 6:57p George Clooney and Julia Roberts were introduced.
Roberts announced that they had broken a record. Clooney: “It’s the largest Democratic fundraiser ever.”
It’s all a compliment to all of you, Clooney announced.
At this point pool was taken out of the room, but could eventually hear a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Pool brought back in at 7:10 as Barbara Streisand was speaking, talking about the roles of First Ladies through the years.
”There was no playbook for these remarkable women. They each wrote it for themselves. And that’s what makes our next speaker so incredibly impressive. Like her predecessors, Dr. Jill Biden has blazed her own trail.”
“She became the first First Lady to have a separate paying career outside the White House with a job as a community college professor. A proud English teacher. And as she has said herself, teaching isn’t what I do it’s what I am. And although her title may be Dr. Jill Biden, to her students she is Dr. B, because they see what is at her core, which is her warmth.”
“And that caring and compassion serves her as a North Star, guiding her on the policy issues she’s made her own. Her support of military families, her participation in the moonshot program to end cancer as we know it. And her newest cause, leading the White House initiative on women’s health research.”
“Simply put women’s health has always been underfunded and overlooked. And it’s why identify so strongly with Dr. Biden and her commitment to this initiative. Because i learned years ago that heart disease kills more women than men. And i’t s’more than a medical issue, it’s a gender issue.
Closing, Streisand called FLOTUS “The ultimate multi-hyphenate” — describing her as a trusted voice for the president, a strong messenger for the campaign, but also “the rock of the family.”
FLOTUS took the stage to a standing ovation at 7:15 pm.
Acknowledging Streisand, she said: “To call you a star seems — I don’t know — inadequate, though your iconic work has brought joy to so many. In fact I sang your debut album so much that I memorized every single word of every single song. I was 12 by the way.”
She praised Streisand for using her voice and platform “outside the recording studio,” and noted she recently visited her women’s heart center in LA.
“I have to say its humbling to have this group of incredible artists and advocates stand beside us in this election. And to all of you thank you for your generous support.”
The bully story: “When I was 13 I stormed down the street of my neighborhood and knocked on the door of a boy that had been tormenting my shy little sister Bonny. … Stomping up his walkway I had no idea what I was going to say to him. But when he opened the door without even thinking i pulled back and i punched him right in the face. And then I ran home as fast as i could.”
She said with the benefit of age and wisdom “I’d probably find a little less violent ways to handle the neighborhood bully. But my 13 year old self was right about one thing, when bullies threaten our loved ones we don’t just stand by.”
She said so much was at stake in the election, but “it’s also about something bigger. Character.”
“We have a choice to make. Joe, a man who has dedicated his life to serving his community. Who honors the rule of law instead of trying to bend it to his own will. And rallies the world to fight for democracy and freedom. A president who wakes up every morning thinking about how he can make the lives of Americans better.
“Or, we can choose someone who wakes up every morning caring about one person and one person only. Himself. Trump has told us again and again why he wants the White House. To give himself absolute power. To not be held accountable for his criminal actions. … To destroy the democratic safeguards that stand in his way.
And he wants to do all of that while dismissing and disparaging women, working class people and people of color. We’re here tonight to show him exactly how we deal with bullies.”
“We don’t cower, we don’t turn way. We show up. We speak up. We can’t wake up on November 6thinking if only we made more calls or knocked on more doors or donated more money. We have to work harder than we’ve ever worked before. And when we do we’ll wake up on that Wednesday in November proud that we did everything we could to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
Closing, she said she is “hopeful and eager for the future we will write together in this next chapter of our great nation. Thank you.” She left the stage at 7:22 pm.
Special thanks to Mike Memoli, NBC News, Washington, D.C.