Former first lady Michelle Obama encouraged Americans to have “hope” when asked by daytime TV host Ellen DeGeneres for her take on politics one year into Donald Trump’s presidency.
“People are afraid, but then there are people who feel good about the direction of the country, so I mean that’s what makes this country complicated,” Obama said in her first TV interview since leaving the White House, after DeGeneres revealed she often felt “frightened” in the Trump era.
“We are this mosh pit of society and sometimes there’s a rub,” Obama said. “But the thing that we have to remember, the thing I learned in the eight years I was in the White House was that what we do every day in our lives, the good things that we do every day and we know we do it, we show empathy, we care for each other, you know, we do have a lot in common. That’s what it means to lead with hope and not fear. And that’s all we have is hope.”
Obama added the U.S. “had to be an open-hearted nation.”
“That’s who we are and that’s the truth of who we are,” Obama said. “We can’t lose sight of that. So, let’s just keep living our lives like that every single day and forget what they’re saying in Washington.”
While also sharing updates on her family’s lives now they have returned to being private citizens, Obama relived the uncomfortable gift exchange that took place between her and Melania Trump on inauguration day in January 2017. Obama appeared on DeGeneres’ show to celebrate the comedian’s 60th birthday.
