DNC Night 2 Takeaways: Bernie Sanders Attacks Billionaires, Obamas Call For History To Be Made

The 2024 Democratic National Convention has been full of big names in politics with the likes of Hillary Clinton, President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders all speaking in support of Vice President Kamala Harris for president at the four-day event.

Here's a look at the key highlights from night two of the event, which took place Tuesday.

Bernie Sanders Takes On Billionaires: Potentially complimenting Harris' plan to improve costs for middle-class Americans, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called for the country's richest to help pay for lower classes.

"Too many of our fellow Americans are struggling everyday to just get by," Sanders said, as reported by The New York Post. "To put food on the table, to pay the rent and to get the healthcare they need."

Sanders said 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and the richest 1% of the country "have never had it so good."

"Brothers and sisters, bottom line we need an economy that works for all of us not just the billionaire class."

The senator rallied against politicians who said the rich should not be taxed and federal health insurance should be expanded.

"Well, I've got bad news for them. That is precisely what we are going to do! And we are going to win this struggle because that is precisely what the American people want from their government."

In a potential weird turn at the DNC, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker spoke after Sanders and bragged about being rich.  

"Donald Trump thinks that we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be rich. But take it from an actual billionaire. Trump is rich in only one thing — stupidity," Pritzker said.

With a net worth of $3.5 billion, Pritzker is one of the richest politicians in office according to Forbes. Having Pritzker speak right after Sanders might not have been the best lineup order in retrospect given Sanders calls against the wealthy.

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Barack Obama Says America Ready For Change: Former President Barack Obama took aim at Trump during his keynote speech, while also praising Biden and Harris.

"America is ready for a new chapter. America's ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris," Obama said.

With Harris set to potentially become the first female president in American history, Obama shared how his mother and mother-in-law were "strong, smart, resourceful women." He said Harris has some of the same qualities and can offer stability to the country.

"I believe that’s what we yearn for — a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other."

Michelle Obama Speaks Out About Black Jobs: Former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke Tuesday night and criticized Trump's past use of "black jobs" in the first presidential debate.

In the debate, Trump said that immigrants were taking "black jobs," which drew backlash from Black voters.

"For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us," Obama said. "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," Obama said.

Obama encouraged voters to support Harris and stressed the urgency of the 2024 election.

Why It's Important: A Benzinga poll found that many readers didn’t plan on watching the DNC this week.

Monday’s DNC primetime coverage drew 20 million viewers from 13 networks according to a report from Deadline. The total comes in ahead of the 18.1 million viewers posted for the first night of the Republican National Convention. The total also topped the 19.75 million viewers the first night of the 2020 DNC.

With appearances from both Biden and Barack Obama, the DNC featured two former presidents speaking in support of Harris, compared to no former presidents speaking at this year’s RNC.

Wednesday's third night of primetime coverage will include speeches from former President Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz will also speak Wednesday night.

Harris will officially accept the Democratic Party nomination for the 2024 election on Thursday and give a speech.

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Photo: Joseph Sohm on Shutterstock