Michelle Obama may have chosen to skip Donald Trump’s inauguration for ‘self care’ purposes, but she is not shying away from talking about the current political climate.
In her latest round of divisive and negative rhetoric, the former first lady said the state of race relations in the United States coupled with the Trump administration’s immigration policies leave her fearful and keep her up at night.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Tucker Carlson, host of The Tucker Carlson Show, to discuss Obama wading into politics and why her comments represent an antiquated worldview.
Obama on Immigration
Obama’s podcast with her brother, IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, doesn’t really delve into politics (though she has aired plenty of grievances about her time in the White House), but it did come up on her media tour promoting the new venture.
During a conversation about race and fear with Jay Shetty on his On Purpose podcast, the former first lady did not mention Trump by name but said her most “recent test of fear” relates to the crackdown on illegal immigration and what she believes is its disparate impact on people of color.
“In this current climate, for me, it’s… what is happening to immigrants,” she said. “It’s not the fear for myself anymore. I drive around in a four-car motorcade with a police escort. I’m Michelle Obama. I do still worry about my daughters in the world, even though they are somewhat recognizable.”
She then zeroed in on deportations. “So, my fears are for what I know is happening out there in streets all over the city,” Obama continued. “And now that we have leadership that is sort of indiscriminately determining who belongs and who doesn’t, and we know that those decisions aren’t being made with courts and with due process.”
After Robinson recounted his lingering trauma from when a black police officer accused him of stealing a bike when he was 12, Obama drew parallels to what she believes migrants are facing. “Knowing that there is so much bias, and so much racism, and so much ignorance that fuels those kind of choices, I worry for people of color all over this country, and I don’t know that we will have the advocates to protect everybody, and that makes me that frightens me,” she said. “It keeps me up at night.”
“How do you feel comfortable going to work, going to school, when you know that there could be people out here judging you and who could upend your life in a second,” she asked. “That’s who I worry for right now.”
Outdated Opinions
In Carlson’s view, Obama’s framing of the issue is outdated. “It feels so antique. It feels so 2017… All of those talking points like ‘people of color under attack’? No, they’re not. They are coming here by the millions because this is the safest country for everybody, no matter what your color is,” he explained. “So, that is just so old fashioned.”
He also believes it highlights her elitism. “There is something about the people with the most in our country that is really poisonous… There is something about America at this moment where the unhappiest people are also the most privileged,” Carlson added. “Worshiping money, worshiping power, organizing your life so you get more of both does not give you peace or happiness. In fact, it seems to produce the opposite with people like Michelle Obama… She is dying of affluence, privilege, and self-obsession.”
To that point, Megyn said Obama seems unable to put a positive spin on anything – as has been the case with nearly everything she has made headlines for as of late. “Everything she says is negative. I mean, you would never know you are hearing from a woman who was first lady for eight years, has become probably a billionaire by this point… her daughters went to these tony schools,” she noted. “She has never gotten over whatever grievance she had growing up.”
When the former first lady noted that she does “still worry about my daughters in the world, even though they are somewhat recognizable,” Megyn said the message was clear. “In other words, she is worried that, as mixed race girls, they are going to get picked up like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an MS-13 gang member, and whisked off to El Salvador. That is what she is saying,” she explained. “And you know what? I think she is lying there at night thinking that because that is what she thinks of America.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Carlson by tuning in to episode 1,060 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.