Former first lady Michelle Obama on Thursday pushed back against former Attorney General Eric Holder distorting one of her most well-known lines at a recent campaign event in Georgia.
“Fear, it’s not a proper motivator,” Obama told the “Today” show at an International Day of the Girl event. “Hope wins out. Think about how you want your kids to be raised, how you want them to think about life and their opportunities, do you want them afraid of their neighbors?”
[Related: Trump slams Eric Holder’s ‘dangerous’ call for Democrats to ‘kick’ Republicans]
“Fear it’s not a proper motivator. Hope wins out.” @MichelleObama on her motto, “When they go low, we go high.” #DayOfTheGirlTODAY pic.twitter.com/XyKW1w4AM8
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 11, 2018
Obama said that she “absolutely” still believes her motto, “When they go low, we go high,” stands.
Holder put a negative twist on Obama’s motto earlier this week when he told a crowd of Democrats that when Republicans go low, “we kick them.”
“At this point, you have to think about what are the things you’re telling your girls,” Obama said to NBC News host Savannah Guthrie, who is a mother. “Which motto do you want them to live by?”
Obama maintained that as role models to younger people, older generations cannot act in ways opposite of how they want to raise up the next generation of individuals.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told CNN that she could not be “civil” while Republicans seek to “destroy” that for which she stands. She said that Democrats could return to civility after winning back a majority in one or both of the chambers of Congress.
Early this year, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., called for Democrats to drive members of the Trump administration out of public spaces and make it known that they are not welcome there.
