US will miss ‘having a grown-up’ in charge
America is now a country without hope, Michelle Obama has said.
Asked by Oprah Winfrey if her husband’s administration had lived up to its promise of hope, the first lady said yes, adding: ‘‘Because we feel the difference now. Now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like. Hope is necessary.’’
She added: ‘‘And Barack didn’t talk about hope because he thought it was a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believe ‘What else do you have if you don’t have hope? What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?’.’’
In what is likely to be Obama’s last interview of the year, she suggested that Americans would miss ‘‘having a grownup in the White House’’, drawing a clear contrast between her husband and the man who will replace him, Donald Trump.
She compared the United States to a toddler who falls over and looks to their parent to know if they should cry or not.
‘‘Barack has been that for the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate,’’ she said. ‘‘Having a grownup 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 that we have, let’s look at the future, let’s look at all the things that we’re building’.’’
On Friday, the first lady played that role herself to a group of students, many of them young black women, who had gathered at the White House for a screening of the film Hidden Figures, which documents the role of black female mathematicians in the space race.
‘‘Look at this eight years,’’ she said. ‘‘We were supposed to be hidden. People didn’t even want to believe we were real. But here we are, eight years later.
‘‘But it’s up to all of you, our young people, to continue that legacy. It’s your turn now. All right?’’
She also gave a message about diversity and inclusiveness that could be read as a criticism of Trump.
At a time when the Republican president-elect is drawing up a cabinet dominated by older white men, the first lady said: ‘‘As we move forward in life and we get access to these seats of power, these tables of power, I want you to look around and make sure there’s diversity at the table.’’
‘‘Because what we saw in this film is that when we pull together men and women, people of every background and colour and faith, immigrants who’ve come here from across the globe to make America their home – when we bring all of that brainpower to the table, anything is possible, even going to the Moon.’’