Trump hits back at Michelle Obama after searing DNC speech, says he 'would not be here' if not for her husband
President Trump on Tuesday hit back at former first lady Michelle Obama, saying he wouldn’t have been elected “if it weren’t for the job done” by her husband, former President Barack Obama.
Trump’s tweets come after the former first lady slammed the president and his administration during the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, saying that his White House operates in "chaos” and without “empathy," while urging voters to cast their ballots for Joe Biden like their lives depend on it.
"Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama," Trump tweeted early Tuesday.
He added: “Biden was merely an afterthought, a good reason for the very late & unenthusiastic endorsement.”
The president went on to tout his administration for building "the greatest economy in history, of any country, turned it off, saved millions of lives, and now am building an even greater economy than it was before.”
“Jobs are flowing, NASDAQ is already at a record high, the rest to follow,” he said. “Sit back and watch!”
The president, defending his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, then slammed the Obama-Biden administration for their “response” to the H1N1 Swine Flu, which he said was considered “weak and pathetic.”
“Check out the polling, it’s really bad,” he tweeted. “The big difference is that they got a free pass from the Corrupt Fake News Media!”
Trump then shifted to the Russia investigation, blasting the former Obama administration for “spying” on his campaign.
“The ObamaBiden Administration was the most corrupt in history, including the fact that they got caught SPYING ON MY CAMPAIGN, the biggest political scandal in the history of our Country,” Trump said. “It’s called Treason, and more.”
He added: “Thanks for your very kind words Michelle!”
The president’s Twitter broadside came after the former first lady slammed the president in prerecorded remarks, where she stressed the “awesome power of the presidency,” while saying the job “requires clear-headed judgment, a mastery of complex and competing issues, a moral compass and an ability to listen.”
"Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consultation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy,” she said Monday.
Obama, in an impassioned address, concluded that Trump is “the wrong president for our country.”
“He has had more than enough time…He is clearly in over his head,” she said. “He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.”
She added: “It is what it is.”
A person watches former First Lady Michelle Obama speak during the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, being held virtually amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, in Los Angeles, on August 17, 2020. (Photo by Chris Delmas / AFP) (Photo
Obama went on to warn: “If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can, and they will if we don’t make a change in this election.”
“If we have any hope of ending this chaos, we have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it,” she said. “I know Joe. He is a profoundly decent man guided by faith.”
Obama said "empathy" was something she has "been thinking a lot about lately.”
"The ability to walk in someone else's shoes. The recognition that someone else's experience has values, too," she said. "Most of us practice this without a second thought.”
She went on to say that children in the U.S. "are seeing what happens when we stop requiring empathy of one another.”
"They're looking around wondering if we’ve been lying to them this whole time," she said. "They see people shouting in grocery stores unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe; they see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin...They see our leaders labeling fellow citizens enemy of the state, while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists.”
RELATED: Michelle Obama at virtual DNC: Vote 'like our lives depend on it'
Obama went on to reference her “they go low, we go high” catchphrase, explaining that “going high is the only thing that works” but doesn't always mean being nice.
“When we go low, degrading and dehumanizing others, we just become part of the other noise that’s drowning out everything else,” she said. “Let’s be clear: going high does not mean putting on a smile and saying nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty.”
She added: “Going high means going the higher path—scraping and clawing to that mountain top.”
The address was widely praised by Democrats as a powerful indictment of the administration.
Meanwhile, last week, U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was tasked last spring with investigating the origins of the investigation into whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians to influence the 2016 election, announced his first charges against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith. Clinesmith was charged with making false statements.
It is unclear if and when more charges could be forthcoming, but Attorney General Bill Barr said earlier this summer that he does not expect Durham's findings will lead to a “criminal investigation” of either former President Barack Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden -- while noting that their concern of “potential criminality” in the conduct of that probe is “focused on others.”
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