Kalamazoo, Mich. (AP) – Michelle Obama He challenged men to support him Kamala Harris In his bid to become America’s first female president, Donald Trump warned at a rally in Michigan on Saturday that women’s lives would be at risk if he returned to the White House.
The former first lady described the attack Abortion rights A precursor to dangerous limitations in health care for women. Obama said some men may be tempted to vote for Trump because of anger at the slow pace of progress, but “your rage is not in a vacuum.”
“If we don’t get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we women will be the collateral damage of your anger,” Obama said. “So are you men ready to look the women and children you love in the eye and say you support this attack on our security?”
The rally in Kalamazoo was Obama’s first appearance on the campaign trail since he spoke at the Democratic National Convention in the summer, and his comments were supportive and emotional for Harris.
“At every level, she’s proven she’s ready,” the former first lady said. “The real question is, as a country, are we ready for this moment?”
“Don’t believe the lies that we don’t know who Kamala is or what she stands for,” Obama added. This is someone who understands you, all of you.
Although Obama has campaigned reluctantly for years, he showed no hesitation as his speech on Saturday stretched from the political to the personal. Obama said he fears for the country and struggles to understand why the presidential election is so close.
“I lay awake at night and thought, ‘What in the world is going on,'” she said.
Her voice vibrating with emotion, Obama spoke to women about their menstrual cycles, or menopause, to understand and care for their bodies. He talked about the dangers of childbirth, a split-second decision that could mean the difference between life and death for a mother and her child.
“I ask everyone from the bottom of my heart to take our lives seriously,” Obama pleaded.
Harris took the stage after Obama and promised to keep the crowd’s interests in mind — unlike Trump, who he accused of only being interested in himself.
“There’s a longing in our country for a president who doesn’t always look in the mirror and sees the people, the people who get you, the people who fight for you,” he said.
The rally in Kalamazoo followed Harris’ visit to a local doctor’s office in Portage to speak with health care providers and medical students about the impact of abortion restrictions. One of them said patients are visiting from other parts of the country where abortion is severely restricted, and another said he worries that people will not want to practice in important areas of medicine because of fears of government intrusion.
“We’re seeing a health crisis in America that affects people of every background and gender,” Harris told reporters before heading to the doctor’s office.
Harris appeared with Beyoncé Friday in HoustonAnd he campaigned with former President Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen Thursday in Atlanta.
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That’s enough celebrity influence to surpass anything Republican nominee Trump has been able to marshal this year. But that’s no guarantee of helping Harris in a close race for the White House. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Trump despite galvanizing her crowds with concerts and Democratic allies.
Trump shot down Harris’ attempt to use star power for his campaign.
“Kamala is at a dance party with Beyoncé. Trump is running for the Republican presidential nomination,” the former president said Friday in Traverse City, Michigan. They held a rally in NoviSaturday before the latter event in State College, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Detroit.
Saturday is the first day of in-person voting across Michigan. More than 1.4 million ballots have already been submitted, representing 20% of registered voters.
When Clinton ran against Trump, Michelle Obama inspired Democrats with the slogan, “When they go low, we go high.”
But this year, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he accepted A more bite-sized approach. “He’s doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions,” Trump charged.
While Harris was with Obama in Michigan, President Joe Biden visited the Workers’ International Union of North America in Pittsburgh. He noted that Harris once picketed with the United Auto Workers — “she has a backbone like a ramrod” — while Trump has undermined organized labor.
“He thinks unions are an obstacle to the accumulation of wealth for individuals,” Biden said. Defeating Donald Trump is in the interest of labor, more so than any other race you’ve attended.
Biden’s comments to a largely male audience addressed the gender divide that has been a consistent feature of this year’s presidential race.
Speaking of Trump, Biden said, “I’m going to say straight up, he’s a loser.”
She also said that women deserve more opportunities than they have had in the past.
“They can do anything any man can do, including being president of the United States,” Biden said.
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Madani reported from Pittsburgh and Megarian from Washington.
