Former first lady Michelle Obama encourages Trump and his supporters to accept the 2020 election results, commenting on how the election “isn’t a game”.
What We Know:
- The former first lady commented on the election in an Instagram post made Monday. The post was brought on by Trump’s persistent denial of the election results. Trump has since called the American people to call in tips of voter fraud but became the butt of the joke.
- In the post, she comments on the transition of power in 2016 when Trump won the election. Disappointed with the results, Michelle still carried out her responsibility. She wrote, “I was hurt and disappointed—but the votes had been counted, and Donald Trump had won. The American people had spoken. And one of the great responsibilities of the presidency is to listen when they do.”
- Michelle emphasized the difficulty of the transition but balanced with its importance. “I have to be honest and say that none of this was easy for me. Donald Trump had spread racist lies about my husband that had put my family in danger. That wasn’t something I was ready to forgive. But I knew that, for the sake of our country, I had to find the strength and maturity to put my anger aside.”
- The former first lady comments on the entitlement of the election, “The presidency doesn’t belong to any one individual or any one party,” Obama wrote. “To pretend that it does, to play along with these groundless conspiracy theories — whether for personal or political gain—is to put our country’s health and security in danger. This isn’t a game.”
- Michelle tells the importance of respecting the results, “Our democracy is so much bigger than anybody’s ego,” she wrote. “Our love of country requires us to respect the results of an election even when we don’t like them or wish it had gone differently.”
The former first lady writes in hopes of urging people to accept the results. She understands the dangers of delaying the transition as there are more important issues at hand, such as the coronavirus pandemic.
