During former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, a number of big names and political officials came onto the stage to help her gather votes. However, when former First Lady Michelle Obama grabbed the mic, she also took that moment to serve a chilling warning of what a second Trump presidency would look like.
And boy, did she see what was ahead…
“- Y’all know I hate politics. But I hate to see folks taken advantage of even more. I wanted to do everything in my power to remind the country that I love, that there’s too much we stand to lose if we get this one wrong,” said Michelle at the Kalamazoo campaign rally in Michigan last year.
She began her address emphasizing the importance of unity and endorsing Kamala Harris as the perfect poised candidate to run the country. However, Michelle spent more time explaining what’s at stake if Trump won office. Now that we’re already three months in, a look back at Michelle’s speech feels more like a haunting foreshadowing.
“Believe me, if Donald Trump is president again at some point or another, that ugliness will touch all of our lives. And it will not matter what you look like, how you worship, who you love, or how you vote. If you don’t make 6 or 8 or 12 figures, if you’re not famous, if you criticize or disagree with him in any way, if he doesn’t view you as his equal or relevant to his ambitions, I promise you, he will not think about you when he gets into the Oval Office. And that will have real consequences for all of us,” she said.
Let’s take a look at what she got right...
“If your town gets hit by a natural disaster, who do you want looking out for you? Is it Donald Trump who’s spreading so many lies and conspiracy theories about climate change in FEMA that the workers in North Carolina trying to help folks clean up after the last hurricane were fearing for their safety?”
Thanks to Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner rejected Asheville’s $225 million recovery plan from Hurricane Helene. According to the Asheville Citizen Times, about $15 million of the funds were to be allocated to a small business program that prioritizes “Minority and Women Owned Businesses.” Turner reacted to the plan in a statement writing “DEI is dead at HUD,” stalling Trump’s plan to help the North Carolina city “quickly recover and rebuild.”
This isn’t the first time Trump’s office gave a lousy response to a tragedy. He also blamed DEI on a fatal Washington D.C. plane collision that claimed the lives of 67 people.
“If you’re saving up to buy a house or pay off student loans, if you’re caring for your kids or your parents or both, if you are a farmer, a factory worker, a paralegal, anyone whose job may be changed or replaced by technology, who will actually be thinking about you?”
Students, specifically, may be in a bind following Trump’s plan to slash the Education Department. About 1,300 employees are expected to be laid off with 300 belonging to the Federal Student Aid office, per the Associated Press. In addition to these layoffs triggering the FAFSA website to temporarily shut down, Trump’s office closed applications for income-driven repayment plans which may cause payments to skyrocket for some, per The Guardian.
Also, if you’re job isn’t being replaced by an AI robot, you may be under the wrath of Trump’s massive federal employee layoff through the Elon-Musk-controlled Department of Government Efficiency which has left that has now left thousands out of a job across all federal agencies.
“If you’re one of our service members, our veterans or military families, who is going to value your service and sacrifice? Is it Donald Trump who has called those who gave their lives for our country suckers and losers?”
Trump’s administration plans to extend their federal employee cuts to the Department of Veteran Affairs, which provides health care, housing and education resources to veterans, per The AP. In fact, PBS reports almost 500,000 employees are veterans themselves. Also, the Veterans Crisis Line for veterans experiencing suicidal symptoms may take a slashing as well. As if life wasn’t already hard for veterans to live a normal life.
“And if you are a mother who has lost sleep worrying if your son could be the victim of a nightmare traffic stop gone bad, if you’ve ever been out there marching and weeping for justice, who do you think is going to have your back? Is it Donald Trump who once took out a full-page ad to demonize innocent young Black teenagers in New York City...?”
Trump’s stance on police brutality? His administration is planning to militarize police even more. In fact, he’s already sent ICE officers into neighborhoods around the country as part of his mass deportation plan, dragging families from their homes.
On the other hand, he decommissioned the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database which allowed police departments to see if their new hire was a bad apple at another department, per NPR. Trump continued to tout himself as a firm supporter of “law and order,” vowing to protect police from accountability and even suggesting a “one rough hour” purge for cops to combat crime.
“He could take actions that effectively ban abortion nationwide, which would put all of us in danger, no matter what state we live in. We will see more doctors hesitating or shying away from providing life-saving treatments because they are worried about being arrested.”
The Trump administration did exactly what we expected a right-wing-led office to do and charged headfirst at reproductive rights. Trump’s office kicked off his 90 day tirade by reinforcing the Hyde Amendment which prohibits federal funds from being used for the purpose of abortion, rolling back former President Biden’s executive actions to make reproductive healthcare more accessible, via TIME.
Trump’s office plans to defend South Carolina’s bid to ban Planned Parenthood patients from being able to use Medicaid at the clinic, per The Guardian. We can only expect more attacks on access to abortion.
“Please do not put our lives in the hands of politicians, mostly men who have no clue or do not care about what we as women are going through, who don’t fully grasp the broad-reaching health implications that their misguided policies will have on our health outcomes.”
Though Michelle was referencing women’s health here, let’s consider our overall health. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services despite his disturbing claims about childhood vaccines causing “deaths” while also not having a plan to attack the recent, frightening measles outbreak.
He’s even canceled funding for research on select vaccines and meetings for vaccine review and discussion have been cancelled without being given new dates, per The AP. But, you know, “make American healthy again” or whatever.