Eva Longoria kicked off the 2020 Democratic National Convention on a high note!
The “Desperate Housewives” alum nailed her hosting duties on the first of four nights of the high-profile event, which was held virtually amid the ongoing pandemic. She addressed the health crisis – and its impact on the significance of this November’s election – in her opening words to viewers.
“We always hear that line about this being the most important election of our lifetimes, but this year it really is,” she stressed. “The past few months have tested us all. We’ve lost more than 170,000 family members and friends to COVID. This tragedy is compounded by the loss of jobs and income.”
“But it’s not just the past few months,” she continued. “The past four years have left us as a nation diminished and divided. And yet in the middle of the fear and sorrow and the uncertainty, people have come together because they know we are better than this. America is better than this. And so we choose to act, inspired by the three sacred words that breathed life into our nation, ‘We the people.'”
Eva also opened up about her own background, which has shaped her beliefs and perspective on the country’s potential.
“I am here tonight as a ninth-generation Texan, as a daughter of a veteran and a teacher, as a mother, as a voter, and as a patriot,” she said. “I share Joe Biden‘s belief that the story of America is one of ordinary people coming together to do extraordinary things, and at our best, our country rewards hard work. We celebrate diversity, we look out for each other, and we lift one another up.”
Eva passed the mic to many others throughout the night, from famous names to everyday Americans. Toward the beginning of the program, she spoke to a small business owner, a teen activist, a farmer and a school nurse about the challenges they’re facing amid the COVID-19 crisis and their hopes for the 2020 election.
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View GalleryGovernors Andrew Cuomo and John Kasich and Senators Bernie Sanders, Doug Jones and Amy Klobuchar were among the political figures that shared their visions for the future and support for the candidates on the Democratic ticket, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Leon Bridges and Maggie Rogers also joined in to perform musical interludes of their songs “Sweeter” and “Back In My Body,” respectively.
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View GalleryAt the end of the night, Eva introduced the much-anticipated final speaker: former First Lady Michelle Obama.
“The voices we long to hear right now are the ones that speak with courage and kindness, strength and wisdom, love and compassion. They’re unafraid to speak the truth and talk about their own uncertainties and struggles. They make us feel seen and inspire us to become the best versions of ourselves,” Eva gushed. “Our next speaker is that for all of us.”
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In her speech, Michelle looked back on the now-iconic quote she coined onstage at the last Democratic Nation four years ago: “When they go low, we go high.”
“Over the past four years, a lot of people have asked me, when others are going so low, does going high still really work?” she said. “My answer? Going high is the only thing that works, because when we go low, when we use those same tactics of degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the ugly noise that’s drowning out everything else. We degrade ourselves, we degrade the very causes for which we fight.”
“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 continued. “Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top. Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences. And going high means unlocking the shackles of lies and mistrust with the only thing that can truly set us free: the cold hard truth.”
The Democratic National Convention continues nightly through Aug. 20. Tracee Ellis Ross is set to take over hosting duties for Eva on Aug. 18, followed by Kerry Washington on Aug. 19 and Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the final evening.
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