Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama showed her support for Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee on Tuesday. During her speech on YouTube, she also dug deep into the current President of the United States, Donald Trump.
In the 24-minute video, Obama laid into Trump for his handling of the pandemic and of the country in general. Even as Trump himself contracted COVID-19 last week. Obama shared Trump had all the tools in his favor to fight the outbreak but nevertheless exposed even his own supporters, and showed his negligence as a leader.
“Seven months after the arrival of the virus, he does not have a plan. Seven months later, he does not wear a mask,” Obama said. She also shared there are more Americans who have already died from COVID-19 than in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Korea combined. “Our commander-in-chief, unfortunately, was missing in action.”
In the video, posted by Biden’s campaign team, Obama accused Trump of being “racist”. She claimed he and other Republicans are “lying about how minorities will destroy the suburbs” of the cities. According to Obama, this is intended to “distract attention from his astonishing failures”.
“So what the President is doing is, once again, patently false,” she said of Trump’s remarks regarding the violence unleashed in anti-racism marches across the country. Obama also stated, according to statistics, there was only a “very small portion” of violence in the demonstrations”, which were mostly peaceful, and added: “Yes, it is racist.”
“One of the things this president is very good at is using fear and confusion to spread lies and win.”
Following the list of criticisms of Trump, Obama, one of the most popular political figures in the country, spoke of the advantages of supporting Biden.
“I know Joe, he’s a good man who knows the daily struggle of Americans,” Obama said.
Then she listed the plans that Kamala Harris, his running mate has, and explained that the Biden “will work to restore trust between the police and the communities of color and end racial discrimination”.
“He will protect our planet and invest in the school and bring people together to work together despite differences,” she emphasized.
Obama asked undecided voters to “think of all those people like me and my ancestors” and to have some empathy for what it is like to “walk through your own country in fear that someone’s unwarranted panic could put you in danger.” Furthermore, she urged Black and mixed-race voters, as well as all young people who are considering not participating in the elections, to come out to vote.
“We cannot afford to assume that things are going to work out,” she closed.
