The US currently is facing an unusual time as a democracy. More than ten days after Democratic candidate Joe Biden has been declared the President-elect, incumbent President Donald Trump is yet to concede. He instead is fighting legal battles to try and hold on to power.
His all caps tweet on Sunday which read, “I WON THE ELECTION,” has sparked memes and imitations.
Former first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday wrote a lengthy reflective post on Instagram, on how she felt about Donald Trump winning the 2016 election and yet, how she welcomed the Trumps into the White House because that was the “right thing to do.”
She writes about how our (American) democracy is so much bigger than anybody’s ego. Trump, in the run-up to the 2016 elections, had spread racist lies about Barack Obama, about his religion and raised questions about whether he really was American. “Donald Trump had spread racist lies about my husband that had put my family in danger. That wasn’t something I was ready to forgive. But I knew that, for the sake of our country, I had to find the strength and maturity to put my anger aside. So 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,” she wrote.
In the post she goes on about how she wrote detailed memos for members from Trump's team like their predecessors George and Laura Bush had done to make the transition easier. And even as current president-elect Biden, is poised to take over at a crucial time-- as the country battles a pandemic and an economic blow in its wake, Trump's team is not offering to share any information necessary for a smooth transition. Biden recently said that many more lives may be lost if President Trump keeps blocking a transition and doesn't share pandemic plans with Biden's team.
Concluding her lengthy post, Michelle Obama wrote, “So I want to urge all Americans, especially our nation’s leaders, regardless of party, to honour the electoral process and do your part to encourage a smooth transition of power, just as sitting presidents have done throughout our history.”
