*Former first lady Michelle Obama issued a lengthy statement on Thursday in response to Wednesday’s deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol.Â
She began by noting her excitement over Rev. Raphael Warnock’s projected victory in the Georgia runoff election. But her high emotions were crushed when domestic terrorists stormed the Capitol to “stop the steal” over the outcome of the 2020 presidental election.Â
“In just a few hours, though, my heart had fallen harder and faster than I can remember. Like all of you, I watched as a gang — organized, violent, and mad they’d lost an election — laid siege to the United States Capitol,” Obama said. “They set up gallows. They proudly waved the traitorous flag of the Confederacy through the halls. They desecrated the center of American government.”
“Once authorities finally gained control of the situation, these rioters and gang members were led out of the building not in handcuffs, but free to carry on with their days,” she added. “The day was a fulfillment of the wishes of an infantile and unpatriotic president who can’t handle the truth of his own failures. And the wreckage lays at the feet of a party and media apparatus that gleefully cheered him on, knowing full well the possibility of consequences like these.”
READ MORE: Dammit! Trump Puts End to Obama’s 12-Year Reign As Most Admired Man (but Michele is Still MAW)
Here’s my statement on today’s violence at the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/jLCKo2D1Ya
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 7, 2021
Obama then noted what many of us have called out, and that is how law enforcement gave zero resistance to the angry white mob, compared to how violently police handled protesters responding to the death of George Floyd.
“There’s one question I just can’t shake: What if these rioters had looked like the folks who go to Ebenezer Baptist Church every Sunday? What would have been different? I think we all know the answer,” she said. “This summer’s Black Lives Matter protests were an overwhelmingly peaceful movement — our nation’s largest demonstrations ever, bringing together people of every race and class and encouraging millions to re-examine their own assumptions and behavior.”
“Seeing the gulf between the responses to yesterday’s riot and this summer’s peaceful protests and the larger movement for racial justice is so painful. It hurts,” she contined. “And I cannot think about moving on or turning the page until we reckon with the reality of what we saw yesterday. True progress will be possible only once we acknowledge that this disconnect exists and take steps to repair it. And that also means coming to grips with the reality that millions voted for a man so obviously willing to burn our democracy down for his own ego.”
Obama also called on social media platforms to ban Trump permanently for inciting the insurrection.Â
“Thankfully, even in the darkness, there are glimmers of hope,” she said concluded. “It’s something I imagine Reverend Warnock has preached about before — and I’m still heartened beyond belief that he’s headed to Washington. I’m glad his fellow Georgian, Jon Ossoff, is, too, and that together they’ll help give control of Congress back to the only party that’s shown that it can put our democracy above its own short-term political fortunes. I pray that every American, especially those who disagree with them, will give our new Congress, President-Elect Biden, and Vice-President-Elect Harris the chance to lead us in a better direction.”
Read Obama’s full statement via the Twitter post above.
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