Michelle Obama Reveals Why She Didn’t Smile During Trump’s Inauguration
Former first lady Michelle Obama reveals in her memoir, Becoming, why she didn’t smile during the inauguration of Donald Trump, The Hill reports.
In the book, Michelle wrote after spending eight years in the White House, the former first lady recounts how she felt during the inauguration, and talks about the moment of transition, and the dawning realization that her husband’s successor is indeed Donald Trump.
During former President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Michelle writes in Becoming, there was a celebratory feeling, a feeling of joy. During the inauguration of Donald Trump, however, the was none of that, she claims. Although Barack’s aides warned the former first lady that not smiling during the inauguration would be considered bad optics, she claims to have found her own way to adjust to the situation.
“Someone from Barack’s administration might have said that the optics there were bad, that what the public saw didn’t reflect the president’s reality or ideals. But in this case, maybe it did. Realizing it, I made my own optic adjustment. I stopped even trying to smile.”
In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts for Good Morning America, The Hill notes, Obama reveals that she also wrote about the fact that Donald Trump remains known for infamously spreading conspiracy theories about her husband with the so-called “birther” theory, in particular.
“The whole thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed,” Michelle writes in Becoming.
According to the former first lady, Donald Trump’s habit of promoting conspiracy theories about her husband was also dangerous, and meant to “stir up the wingnuts and kooks.”
In her memoir, Obama recalls how she felt frightened that one of Trump fans reading and listening to him spreading baseless conspiracy theories about her husband would travel to Washington and put her family at risk.
“I stopped even trying to smile,” @MichelleObama shares what she was feeling during President Trump’s 2017 Presidential Inauguration. #MichelleObama #Michellehttps://t.co/GG1GiLxNVX pic.twitter.com/iBq38HR5hv
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 12, 2018
“What if that person went looking for our girls? Donald Trump, with his loud and reckless innuendos, was putting my family’s safety at risk,” Michelle writes.
In the book, Michelle also writes that she will “never forgive” Trump for promoting the birther conspiracy theory. For President Trump, however, this doesn’t seem to be an issue. Speaking to reporters outside the White House on November 10, Trump touched upon Michelle’s book and refusal to forgive him for his actions, pushing back against the former first lady and her husband, according to CNN.
Trump did not apologize for promoting the conspiracy theory, nor did he properly address the issue. Instead, Trump said that he will “never forgive” former President Barack Obama for “what he did to our U.S. military.”
