PHILADELPHIA — Michelle Obama told a diverse and enthusiastic crowd in Philadelphia on Wednesday that candidates don’t change once they become president and that America “needs an adult in the White House.”
READ MORE: Citing Trump’s ‘deep character flaws,’ Republican newspaper endorses Clinton in historic move
The first lady never mentioned Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the rally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at LaSalle University. But there was no question that she was warning voters that candidate Trump would be the same as President Trump.
“The presidency doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are,” she told the cheering crowd.
She referred to several comments Trump made during and after Monday’s debate, including his apparent acknowledgement that he’s paid no taxes some years. Trump said that makes him “smart.”
READ MORE: Hillary Clinton targets millennials, women in election battleground state New Hampshire
“If a candidate is erratic and threatening, if a candidate traffics in prejudice, fear and lies on the campaign trail, if a candidate thinks not paying taxes makes you smart, or that it’s good business when people lose their homes; if a candidate regularly and flippantly makes cruel and insulting comments about women, about how we look, how we act – well, sadly, that’s who that candidate really is,” she said. “That is the kind of president they will be.”
- Foreign interference ‘undermined’ public confidence in elections: inquiry
- Princess Anne to help commission new navy vessel in B.C. ceremony
- Tories grill Liberals in question period about minister’s ties to lobbyist, PPE company
- Canada, Manitoba to develop Red Dress Alert for missing Indigenous women and girls
She said the country needs a leader who is steady and measured because when making war-or-peace decisions, “the president can’t just pop off or lash out irrationally. No, we need an adult in the White House, I guarantee you.”
READ MORE: Donald Trump praises his ‘winning’ first debate performance
She cast Clinton as a tough, compassionate fighter who doesn’t back down and who loves her country.
“Experience matters, preparation matters, temperament matters,” she said. “Hillary Clinton has it all. She’s the real deal.”
The first lady was heading to Pittsburgh for another rally for the Democratic presidential nominee later Wednesday.
Trump’s campaign reacted to Obama’s speech with a statement saying Clinton is in “panic mode” in Pennsylvania because polls show the Republican presidential nominee surging in the battleground state.
Comments