Michelle Obama on the Importance of a Smooth Transfer of Power
She opened up about her experience welcoming the Trumps to the White House in 2016.
Nine days after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump has yet to formally concede and welcome the Biden's to the White House. The president seemingly has no plans to do so, continuing to make false claims that he won the election and that the election itself was rigged. (There is currently no evidence of this.) Despite this, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have moved forward with the transition process, creating a formal website that outlines their immediate priorities amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed more than 245,000 U.S. lives.
As the days continue to pass, people are urging the nation's leaders, specifically Republican allies of the president, to encourage a smooth transition of power for the sake of the country. One of those people is former first lady Michelle Obama. In an Instagram post published on Monday afternoon, she opened up about her experience welcoming then-President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, to the White House in 2016 after Trump made racist comments about her husband, President Barack Obama.
"I have to be honest and say that none of this was easy for me," she wrote. "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 post is an urgent reminder that regardless of differing political ideologies or personal beliefs, the state of our democracy depends on a peaceful transition of power. Read her full post, below:
A post shared by Michelle Obama (@michelleobama)
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Rachel Epstein is a writer, editor, and content strategist based in New York City. Most recently, she was the Managing Editor at Coveteur, where she oversaw the site’s day-to-day editorial operations. Previously, she was an editor at Marie Claire, where she wrote and edited culture, politics, and lifestyle stories ranging from op-eds to profiles to ambitious packages. She also launched and managed the site’s virtual book club, #ReadWithMC. Offline, she’s likely watching a Heat game or finding a new coffee shop.