Former First Lady Michelle Obama hit the campaign trail for Kamala Harris for the first time on Saturday where she called for a ‘grown up in the White House’ and blasted Donald Trump for lies, childish antics and moral decline before making an emotional appeal directly to men.
Her appearance in Kalamazoo. Michigan comes as polls show the presidential race in a dead heat with just ten days to go before the election.
The former first lady questioned why Harris is being held to a higher standard and must prove she belongs.
‘But for Trump we expect nothing at all, no understanding of policy, no ability to put together a coherent argument, no honesty, no decency, no morals.’
She said too many people are willing to write off his ‘childish, mean-spirited antics.’
Former First Lady Michelle Obama taking the stage at the rally for Kamala Harris in Kalamazoo, MI on October 26, 2024. She delivered a blistering attack on Donald Trump while praising Harris as ‘extraordinary.’ The former first lady also made an impassioned plead for men in the election
Obama accused the ex-president for ‘gross incompetence’ while people ask Harris to ‘dazzle’ at every turn.
‘I hope that you’ll 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 slumlord, 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,’ she said.
Obama also said Harris ‘dominated her opponent so thoroughly in the debate he was too scared to face her again.’
‘Why on earth is this race even close?’ the former first lady asked at another point as the crowd went wild.
Obama said she lays awake at night wonder ‘what in the world is going on?’
She said Harris has demonstrated she is ready but asked: ‘as a country, are we ready for this moment?’
The former first lady said she fears for the country and its children if people forget the stakes in the election.
She said if Trump becomes president, at some point ugliness will touch everyone’s lives.
Harris with Obama at the Wings Event Center. The former first lady questioned why Harris is being held to a higher standard than Trump and praised her as ready to meet the moment
Obama said she was out campaigning in Michigan because of that fear reminding the crowd she was doing so even though ‘you all know I hate politics.’
Her remark received some laughs as people once called for the former first lady herself to run for president should President Biden end his bid. She previously ruled it out.
Halfway through her speech, the former first lady took an extremely somber note when she pleaded for men not to leave women’s lives in the hands of politicians when it comes to reproductive health care with the overturning of Roe v Wade.
Obama went through graphic details of the dangers of being pregnant and childbirth as well as other health challenges women face. She explained the threats of infection and women potentially bleeding out.
She warned of the chilling effects dismantling the reproductive health care system with the overturning of Roe have had, not just on abortion care but on the entire women’s health care system and painted a specific picture of how the threats to women’s health care will impact the men who love them.
‘To the men who love us, let me just try to paint a picture of what it will feel like if America, the wealthiest nation on earth, keeps revoking basic care from its women and how it will affect ever single woman in your life,’ Obama said.
‘Your girlfriend could be the one in legal jeopardy if she needs a pill from out of state or overseas or if she has to travel across state lines because the local clinic closed up. 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.
‘Your daughter could be the one too terrified to call the doctor if she’s bleeding during an unexpected pregnancy. Your niece could be the one miscarrying in her bathtub after the hospital turned her away,’ she went on.
At times there were murmurs of support. At other moments, the room could hear a pin drop in the silence between her words.
During her speech, Obama took a serious note when she discussed the chilling effects the overturning of Roe v Wade has had on women’s health care not just abortion. She begged men to not put women’s lives in the hands of politicians like Trump
Supporters of Harris listening to the former first lady as she gave an emotional speech during her first appearance on the 2024 campaign trail
‘I am asking ya’ll from the core of my being to take our lives seriously please,’ she said. ‘Do not put our lives in the hands of politicians, mostly men, who have no clue or do not care about what we as women are going through.’
She said ‘please do not hand our fates over to the likes of Trump who knows nothing about us, who has shown deep contempt for us because a vote for him is a vote against us, against our health, against our worth.’
She told men before casting their votes to ask themselves what side of history do they want to be on and urged those fed up not to sit out the election because women will become collateral damage.
Obama also beseeched women to demand the men in their lives do better by them and remember ‘we are more than just baby-making vessels.’
She said if they are in a household where a man does not value them or their opinion ‘just remember that your vote is a private matter.’
As the former first lady spoke, she received thunderous applause at times from the energized crowd while attendees passionately nodded along during her deeply emotional appeal.
At one moment the former first lady even appeared to wipe away a tear.
Obama wrapped up her speech by welcoming Harris to the stage where they shared a moment hugging as the arena shook with applause.
Harris and Obama pointing at each other after the former first lady introduced the Democratic presidential nominee
Taking the stage, the vice president joked about campaigning in ‘Kamala-zoo.’
During her speech, Harris spoke of being a prosecutor and attorney general and taking on predators and fraudsters and winning.
‘Well in ten days, it’s Donald Trump’s turn,’ she said. It received one of the biggest cheers from the crowd.
Early in-person voting in Michigan kicked off on Saturday. But more than 1.4 million Michiganders had already voted early by mail in the swing state.
The ‘I voted’ sticker handed out to voters who cast ballots on the first day of early voting in-person in Michigan on Saturday
The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Harris with a four-point lead in Michigan among likely voters including a whopping twenty-point lead among women. But the average of polls shows Trump with a less than half a point lead in the state.
Voters showing up to cast ballots in Kalamazoo on Saturday faced more than an hour wait times to vote. Some decided to try voting another time upon finding out how long they would have to stand in line.
Kalamazoo County is a blue county which Biden won in 2020 with more than 58 percent of the vote.
But Harris will still need to run up the vote in blue areas in order to win the state which went to Trump in 2016 before swinging back to blue in 2020.
Jessica Hayback of Kalamazoo showed up at 9:30 am to wait in line. She said she came out because she has hope.
‘I’ve loved Michelle Obama. I’m a big Harris supporter,’ she said. ‘It’s sort of an iconic moment.’
She is supporting the vice president because she wants an ‘ethical candidate that can represent us with some decency and bring some sanity back to American politics.’
Hayback also mentioned abortion rights and Harris’ economic policy ideas.
Ruby Hodge, 74, said she came out for the rally to be part of a movement she believes will be beneficial for her grandchildren and young people. She said she is hopeful in Michigan.
‘The issues she espouses, they speak to me. I believe in her sincerity, her honesty. When I listen to her, I cry, I really do,’ Hodge said of the vice president.
‘She is taking it upon herself. She is saying “here I am. I will do this.” And I think she can – I know she can,’ she said.
Supporters waited in line for hours outside the Wings Event Center to attend Harris’ rally with Michelle Obama on October 26, 2024
Supporters waiting to attend the rally with Michelle Obama in Kalamazoo, MI on the first day of early in-person voting in the state
This is the former first lady’s first appearance on the campaign trail with Harris, but her speech at the Democratic National Convention was a smashing hit over the summer when she delivered a brutal takedown of Trump while praising the vice president.
It was widely considered one of if not the best addresses in Chicago.
‘Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment,’ Obama said. ‘She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency.’
Obama also turned her wrath on Trump with one of the most blistering responses to the ex-president.
‘For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,’ Obama said. ‘His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black.’
She called Trump a con, misogynistic and racist. One of her zingers about the ex-president went viral.
‘Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?’
Her husband former President Obama has been hitting the campaign trail for Harris across battleground states. He held his first rally with the vice president on Thursday in Atlanta.
The former first couple endorsed Harris for president just days after President Biden exited the race with a video featuring a call they had with the vice president.
Vice President Kamala Harris meeting with health care providers and medical students in Portage, MI ahead of her rally on October 26 where they discussed reproductive care with the fall of Roe v Wade
Before the rally in Kalamazoo, Harris made a stop at a local doctor’s office in Portage to meet with reproductive health care providers and medical students.
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At the rally on Saturday, a series of other Michigan Democratic leaders also took the stage in Kalamazoo.
Senator Gary Peters delivered a speech where he read off quotes from former Trump administration officials criticizing the Democratic presidential nominee.
He also touted the recent endorsement of Harris by former longtime Republican Michigan Congressman Fred Upton.
The support from the GOP Michigander comes as Harris has been courting moderate Republicans and Independents on the campaign trail.