President-elect Donald Trump said Michelle Obama didn’t mean “it the way it came out” when she said that under Trump “now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like.”
During a thank you rally in Mobile, Ala. Saturday, Trump stood out in pouring rain and explained to the crowd of thousands gathered what he thought the first lady meant. (RELATED: Michelle Obama On Trump: ‘Now We’re Feeling What Not Having Hope Feels Like’)
(photo: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
“Michelle Obama said yesterday that there’s no hope,” Trump said as the crowd booed. “But I assume she was talking about the past not the future because I’m telling you, we have tremendous hope. And we have tremendous promise and tremendous potential.” (RELATED: First Lady Michelle Obama Attacks Trump As ‘Erratic And Threatening)
“We are going to be so successful as a country again,” he added. “We are going to be amazing. And I actually think she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out. I really do.”
“Because I met with President Obama and Michelle Obama in the White House, my wife was there,” he continued. “She could not have been nicer. I honestly believe she meant that statement in a different way than it came out because I believe — I believe there is tremendous hope and beyond hope we have such potential.”
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on “CBS This Morning” Friday, the first lady said that President Barack Obama did try to deliver hope to the American people.
“See, now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like,” Michelle Obama said. “Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept. And Barack didn’t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes.”
“Now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like… Hope is necessary.” — First Lady @MichelleObama tells @Oprah pic.twitter.com/u6m7euFs3R
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) December 16, 2016
“I mean, he and I and so many believe — what else do you have if you don’t have hope?” she added. “What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?”
“I feel that Barack has been that for the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate,” she continued. “Having a grown-up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil, ‘Hey it’s going to be OK. Let’s remember the good things we have. Let’s look at the future. Let’s look at all the things that we are building.'”
“All of this is important for our kids to stay focused and to feel like their work isn’t in vane, that their lives aren’t in vain. What do we do if we don’t have hope, Oprah?”