Michelle Obama speaks during a campaign rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on October 26, 2024.

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Michelle Obama stood in front of a few thousand people in a high school gym on the first day of early voting in Michigan and confessed that she’s frustrated — and a “little angry” — about some of the things she’s heard about why people are hesitant about supporting Vice President Harris.

Addressing directly the wide gender gap that polls show is a hallmark of this presidential campaign, Obama denounced “the lie that we don’t know who Kamala is or what she stands for,” saying that too many voters are ignoring the statements of shaking off former President Donald Trump. character and his record on a wide range of topics.

Trump also campaigned in Michigan this weekend, with a stop in Traverse City late Friday night, and a second in suburban Detroit on Saturday.

Polls show the race is extremely tight in swing states like Michigan, and Democrats — including former President Barack Obama — have worked urgently to boost enthusiasm for Harris among black men, young voters and other parts of the Democratic base.

“I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little frustrated that some of us choose to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to blindside us at every opportunity,” the former first lady said during her first appearance in the campaign. track with Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former first lady Michelle Obama during a meeting on October 26, 2024 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

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Paul Sancya/AP

“I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we’re indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse – all of it while we get Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do, all of them,” she said.

Describing Harris as an “adult” with clear policies, Obama said she fears that “too many people are willing to write off Trump’s childish, mean-spirited antics by saying, ‘Trump is just Trump,’ rather than to ask questions about. his terrible behavior. Some people find him funny.”

“That’s exactly how he was chosen the first time: people gave him the OK and rolled the dice, betting that he couldn’t possibly be that bad,” she said.

Harris and Obama focused on women’s health care

Harris focused much of her remarks Saturday on abortion restrictions. She had visited a local doctor’s office in Kalamazoo before the meeting and talked to health care providers and medical students about concerns that Trump would expand abortion restrictions nationwide if he won.

Doctors also attended her Friday evening rally in Houston, arguing that new abortion restrictions left them unable to provide women with adequate care.

“Remember how we got here,” Harris said during Saturday’s meeting. “Donald Trump hand-selected three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intent that they would undo the protections of the United States. Roe v. Wade. They did what he intended, she said.

Obama pointedly cited a long list of everyday women’s reproductive health problems — cramps, nausea, hot flashes, lumps and pap smears — and said a second Trump presidency could have a “chilling effect” on doctors’ willingness to specialize in the women’s health care because of abortion restrictions.

She spoke specifically to men in her remarks, emphasizing that further restrictions on abortion and other aspects of women’s health care would also impact them and their sons.

“I ask all of you from the core of my being to take our lives seriously – please,” Obama said. “Don’t put our lives in the hands of politicians – especially men – who have no idea or don’t care about what we, as women, are going through.”