Michelle Obama Takes Dig At Donald Trump While Addressing Diverse College Graduates
First lady Michelle Obama delivered some scathing remarks about Donald Trump when she addressed thousands of diverse college graduates on Friday.
Fox News reports that Michelle made the remarks at a commencement speech at City College of New York in Harlem honoring the school for its diverse student enrollment, which she said “some folks” fail to appreciate. The first lady chastised presidential nominees who resort to “name calling … anger and intolerance,” which was a direct reference to presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Michelle Obama swipes at Donald Trump in CUNY grad speech: ‘We don’t build up walls’ https://t.co/C3OpLV83QC
— TIME.com (@TIME) June 3, 2016
Michelle Obama said in her attack on Trump that potential leaders like him “view our diversity as a threat to be contained rather than as a resource to be tapped” and that they “tell us to be afraid of those who are different, to be suspicious of those with whom we disagree.”
The first lady went on to say that we “don’t build up walls to keep people out because we know that our greatness has always depended on contributions from people who were born elsewhere but sought out this country and made it their home.”
Michelle Obama also bashed Donald Trump without mentioning his name when she went on to say that some people “act as if name-calling is an acceptable substitute for thoughtful debate, as if anger and intolerance should be our default state rather than the optimism and openness that have always been the engine of our progress.”
Donald Trump has proven unstoppable in his run for the White House with his name-calling of “Lying Ted Cruz,” “Little Marco Rubio,” “Goofy Elizabeth Warren,” and now “Crooked Hillary.” He’s also called Fox News anchor, Megyn Kelly, a “bimbo.”
In spite of the political pundits holding panel discussions at length on the marvel of Trump’s ascent to the political spectrum and how it cannot endure long-term, Trump has proven everyone wrong at this point. His rhetoric, insults, and name-calling have gotten him where he’s at now and the “silent majority” are standing behind him.
One of Trump’s longstanding stances has been to build a wall along the whole southern U.S. border to prevent illegal Mexican immigrants from entering the country. Trump caught heat for calling many illegals “rapists” and “drug dealers.”
A string of terror attacks in Europe by radical Islamists prompted Trump to call on a temporary ban of Muslims entering the United States.
Fox News reports that City College of New York is the flagship school for the City University of New York. Chicago Tribune reports that it was founded in 1847 and was considered the “poor man’s” Harvard in the 1930s when Jewish students were shut out of private colleges. Notable graduates from the school include Jonas Salk, son of Polish immigrants who discovered the vaccine for polio, and Colin Powell, son of Jamaican immigrants who once served as secretary of state. In all, 10 Nobel Piece Prize winners have attended City College, in addition to several renowned authors, scientists, business leaders, and artists.
#FLOTUS Michelle Obama takes a shot at Donald Trump: “We don’t build up walls” https://t.co/1sYuGC9Ap0 via @tomkludt https://t.co/5i5RZPJUii
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 3, 2016
Over 3,000 students were present during the first lady’s speech. More than 40 percent of City College’s students are first-generation college students and half are from low-income households.
Michelle said she is reminded of similar American stories “every single day” when she wakes up in a house “built by slaves.”
Although Michelle Obama didn’t call out Donald Trump’s name, it was evident she was referring to the Republican presidential nominee during her speech.
[AP Photo/Donn Jones]
