Former first lady Michelle Obama on Monday urged “all Americans, especially our nation’s leaders, regardless of party” to “do your part to encourage a smooth transition of power” and said that playing along with “groundless conspiracy theories” is putting our “health and security in danger.”
Michelle Obama, adviced President Donald Trump to concede defeat to President-elect, Joe Biden, following his victory at the November 3 presidential election, saying “the situation in the country at the moment is not a game”.
Mrs Obama who made the call via her Instagram page on Monday, November 16, said the love of country required everyone to respect election results even when it was not favourable to them.
“The presidency doesn’t belong to anyone individual or any one party. To pretend that it does, to play along with these groundless conspiracy theories, whether for personal or political gain, is to put our country’s health and security in danger. This isn’t a game,” she wrote.
She went further to advice Americans and the leaders to honour electoral processes and do their part to encourage a smooth transition to power.
“I want to urge all Americans, especially our nation’s leaders, regardless of party, to honour the electoral process and do their parts to encourage a smooth transition of power, just as sitting presidents have done throughout our history.”
The former First Lady recalled her struggle after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton “by a far closer margin” in the 2016 presidential election against the wide margin Biden has trounced him with.
She said that though she and her husband, Barrack Obama, were deeply hurt and disappointed at the outcome of the election, they listened to the voice of the people and immediately set the transition ball rolling.
“The American people had spoken. And one of the great responsibilities of the presidency is to listen when they say.
“My husband and I instructed our staff members to do what George and Laura Bush had done for us: run a respectful, seamless transition of power, one of the hallmarks of American democracy.
“We invited the folks from the president-elect’s team into our offices and prepared detailed memos for them, offering what we’d learned over the past eight years. I have to be honest and say that none of this was easy for me.
“I welcomed Melania Trump into the White House and talked with her about my experience, answering every question she had, from the heightened scrutiny that comes with being First Lady to what it’s like to raise kids in the White House.
“I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do, because our democracy is so much bigger than anybody’s ego,” she ended.
