The former first lady makes her long-awaited campaign appearance in Michigan.
Michelle Obama is undoubtedly one of the Democratic Party’s most popular figures, and over the weekend, she brought her star power by appearing alongside Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally.
During the event in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Saturday, the former first lady didn’t hold back in expressing her frustration at how close the race has become (Harris and former President Donald Trump are deadlocked at 48 percent in the final New York Times/Siena College national poll of the election cycle). “I gotta ask myself: Why on earth is this race even close?” Obama told a raucous crowd.
This fiery speech marks Obama’s first appearance on the campaign trail, so here are some highlights from her remarks — which ranged from the personal to the political.
Michelle Obama blasts Trump’s “gross incompetence”
The former first lady, who was one of Harris’ early endorsers, drove home the stark contrast between Harris and her Republican rival.
While she criticized Trump for his “gross incompetence,” she described Harris as a “grown-up” with a clear set of policies. “By every measure, she has demonstrated that she’s ready,” the former first lady said of Harris. “The real question is, as a country, are we ready for this moment?”
But Obama bemoaned the double standard between the two candidates. “I hope that you will forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse — all of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do, y’all,” she said.
She also expressed alarm that too many people are willing to write off “Trump’s childish, mean-spirited antics” instead of questioning his behavior and divisive rhetoric. “That’s exactly how he got elected the first time — folks gave him a pass and rolled the dice betting that he couldn’t possibly be that bad,” she said.
She challenges men to support Harris’ bid to become the first female president
Obama singled out male voters to make an impassioned plea, warning that Trump’s return to the White House poses significant risks for women’s health, particularly when it comes to abortion rights.
“A vote for him is a vote against us, against our health, against our worth,” she said. “So fellas, before you cast your votes, ask yourselves: What side of history do you want to be on?”
But she also sought to move beyond abortion rights by saying increasingly limited access could also have dire consequences for other types of women’s healthcare, including cancer screenings. “Your wife or mother could be the ones at higher risk of dying from undiagnosed cervical cancer because they have no access to regular gynecological care,” she said.
That said, the former first lady also underscored in her speech that women have a choice too and they don’t have to make the same decision as their husbands. “Your vote is a private matter — regardless of the political views of your partner,” she said. “You get to use your judgment and cast your vote.”
Obama’s urgent call to male voters comes as support for Harris and Trump is virtually split by gender. A recent CBS News/YouGov survey found that Harris earns 55 percent of her support from women voters, compared to Trump’s 54 percent support among men.
She warned against casting protest ballots
Obama also addressed voters who were thinking about voting for a third party candidate like the Green Party’s Jill Stein or not casting a ballot at all in protest of the election.
“If we don’t get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage,” she said. “So are you as men prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them you supported this assault on our safety?”
Harris, who took the stage after Obama, echoed a similar sentiment, arguing that men saw the women they loved “put at risk because their rights have been stripped away.”
Though Obama has appeared to be a reluctant campaigner in the past, she clearly showed no hesitation in her speech making a full support of Harris and underscoring the importance of this election.
“I lay awake at night wondering, ‘What in the world is going on?'” she said.
