Former First Lady Michelle Obama has ripped Donald Trump apart declaring him ‘in over his head’ and the ‘wrong president for our country’.

Obama launched an extraordinary attack on the President’s fitness for office as she addressed, virtually, the opening night of the Democratic convention.

She also spoke of Joe Biden’s empathetic character and pleaded with voters to vote for him ‘like our lives depend on it’.

“Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country," she said.

“He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”

The phrase she used was a call back to Trump’s use of words when asked about the coronavirus death toll in the US and he replied: “It is what it is.”

She then referenced her own words from her 2016 convention speech ‘when they go low we go high’.

“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. 

"Going high means taking the harder path. It means scraping and clawing our way to that mountain top.”

Obama also said she ‘hated politics’ in her speech, something she has said before to the disappointment of those who would wish her to seek office.

She praised Biden as a ‘profoundly decent man’ and someone who will 'tell the truth and trust science’.

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

Biden was vice-president for all eight years she and her husband Barack Obama were in the White House.

She spoke on the recent social injustice protests sparked by George Floyd’s death in May and said ‘whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy’.

“His life is a testament to getting back up, and he is going to channel that same grit and passion to pick us all up, to help us heal and guide us forward."

Obama was praised across social media, particularly by Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris.

“@MichelleObama speaking truth to power. Donald Trump is not up for the job—but @JoeBiden is,” she wrote on Twitter.

And David Axelrod, former advisor for Barack, said: “Because she is not a politician and doesn’t think or speak like one, @MicheleObama is such a powerful communicator.

“As she is showing again here, she speaks with a moral authority few in public life can summon.”

As Obama’s speech was pre-recorded, due to the virtual nature of the convention, she made no reference to Harris who had not yet been unveiled.

However, she did write a long post on social media praising Harris after she was announced.

Obama’s speech was her fourth at the convention, giving one in 2008 and 2012 as her husband was running for office.

She then returned in 2016 to show her support for Hillary Clinton.