Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama gesture as they attend a campaign event for Harris at Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on October 26, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Washington DC
In an emotional speech in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday (October 26, 2024) evening, former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama called on men, undecided voters and those planning to sit up the election to vote for Vice President and Democratic candidate for the White House, Kamala Harris, warning them about the stark consequences of voting for her Republican opponent, Donald Trump.
Ms. Obama addressed a packed stadium prior to Ms. Harris’s speech at the Wings Event Centre in the city of just over 70,000 residents in the crucial midwestern battleground state.
Specifically addressing men, the former first lady described in vivid detail the consequences of tightening restrictions on reproductive rights, as she warned men that there would be a general decline in women’s reproductive health, causing a range of consequences, from women bleeding to death during childbirth to their mothers and sisters being affected by undetected cervical cancer.
Mr. Trump had boasted that, through his appointment of three Supreme Court justices, he was responsible for overturning Roe versus Wade, which broadly protected a woman’s right to an abortion. Following the overturning of this legal precedent by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, a number of States have enacted or attempted to enact or have contemplated laws tightening access to not just abortions but in vitro fertilization (IVF) and contraceptives. Doctors and those helping a woman obtain an abortion could face criminal liability and jail time.
“This will not just affect women; it will affect you and your sons,” said Ms. Obama, directly addressing male voters.
“And look, I don’t expect any man to fully grasp how vulnerable this makes us feel or to understand the complexities of our reproductive health experiences. In all honesty, most of us as women don’t fully understand the breadth and depth of our own reproductive lives,” she added. Ms. Obama attributed this knowledge gap to a lack of research funding for women’s health.
“Because a vote for him is a vote against us. Against our health, against our worth.” she said, tearing up.
Ms. Obama said she wondered how the race could be so close, arguing that Ms. Harris was ready for the moment.
The former First Lady also wondered aloud why Ms. Harris was being held to a different standard from Mr. Trump. She pointed out that former Vice President Mike Pence and other former allies and Cabinet Ministers of Mr. Trump, including four-star generals, were not supporting Mr. Trump’s 2024 candidacy. Ms. Obama reminded the crowd that the former Joint Chiefs of Staff (Mark Milley) had described Mr. Trump as being “fascist to the core”.
Ms. Obama asked why the public was “choosing to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle at every turn”.
“I hope that you will forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behaviour, his obvious mental decline, and 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 answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do you all,” Ms. Obama said.
The former First Lady reminded women who lived in households where the men did not listen to or value their opinions that their vote was a private matter. “You get to choose,” she said.
Michigan is part of the ‘Blue Wall’. These are states that Democrats have traditionally won. Mr. Trump won Michigan along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in 2016, helping him win the White House. U.S. President Joe Biden won all three states in 2020.
Published – October 27, 2024 08:52 am IST
