First Lady Michelle Obama, one of Donald Trump’s toughest adversaries throughout the campaign, discussed the impact of the general election, admitting, “we’re feeling what not having hope feels like.”
“Hope is necessary,” Obama said during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, a clip of which aired Friday on CBS. “It’s a necessary concept. And Barack didn’t talk about hope because he thought it was a nice slogan to get votes.”
“I mean he and I and so many believe: what else do you have if you don’t have hope?” she continued. “What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope.”
Less than a week after a video tape emerged featuring Trump bragging about grabbing women by the genitalia, Obama—a previously reluctant campaigner—delivered one of the most devastating speeches in support of Hillary Clinton.
“The fact is that in this election, we have a candidate for President of the United States who, over the course of his lifetime and the course of this campaign, has said things about women that are so shocking, so demeaning that I simply will not repeat anything here today,” Obama said in October, her voice shaking with audible anger. “And last week, we saw this candidate actually bragging about sexually assaulting women. And I can't believe that I'm saying that a candidate for President of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women.”
Obama went on to dismiss any notion of Trump’s comments as “locker room talk,” noting “this was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior.”
Now that Trump is on stand-by for the position her husband—a self-described feminist—held for eight years, Obama said she hopes people will continue to look at the current president's legacy as one of hope moving forward.
"I feel Barack has been that for the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate. Having a grown-up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil, 'Hey, it's going to be okay. Let's remember the good things that we have,'" she said.
The interview between Winfrey and Obama will air Monday at 8 p.m. on CBS.
Watch the clip below, via CBS:
