"Maybe that's why he calls communities like the one where I was raised 'hell' because he can't see all of the decent hardworking folks like my parents, who took those extra shifts, paid their bills on time, folks who are raising amazing families, sending kids to college.
"Maybe he doesn't believe people like us really exist because he doesn't see our shared humanity.
"And it is becoming increasingly clear that to him most of America is them."
As her audience whooped and cheered, she gestured around the room. "But here's the thing," she said. "Look at us. Just look at us.
"We all know better, we all know better. Whether we are Democrats, Republicans or independents, it doesn't matter. We all understand that an attack on any one of us is an attack on all of us, and we know that that is not who we are."
The First Lady showed what a skilled orator she is in her final major campaign appearance for Clinton after she turned heads in a rose gold Atelier Versace dress at husband Barack Obama's final state dinner last night.
Mrs Obama, who has emerged as a powerful ally for Clinton and a political force in her own right, outlined a captivating vision of America and what it stands for.
"Who are we? We are a nation founded as a rebuke to tyranny. A nation of revolutionaries who refused sovereign reign from afar.
"Hear me, we are a nation that says, give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
"We are a nation built on our differences guiding by belief we are all created equal. A nation that fully recognises that we are always stronger together, all of us.
"That's who we are. That's the country we want to raise our kids in."
