Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has given his review of former First Lady Michelle Obama's comments about him in a recent campaign rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Surprise! Trump wasn't a fan. But the way he registered his displeasure sounded to many suspiciously like a threat.
At his rally in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, Trump said Obama was "nasty" to him, before issuing her a warning.
In uncharacteristically candid style, the "when they go low, we go high" spirit that Obama called for during the 2016 election has clearly been dispensed with.
Obama laid into Trump, criticizing everything from his character to his governing style, essentially chalking up his entire political career to the lower standards he's been held to compared to Kamala Harris.
She said:
"We expect her to be intelligent and articulate, to have a clear set of policies, to never show too much anger, to prove time and a time again that she belongs."
"But for Trump, we expect nothing at all, no understanding of policy, no ability to put together a coherent argument, no honesty, no decency, no morals."
She also implored the crowd not to forget how terrible Trump's presidency was.
"Remember how woefully unprepared he was, how he was sowing seeds of fear and confusion, endangering lives with his lies and ignorance, denigrating the doctors and scientists trying to help us..."
"...Let us not forget how badly that worked out for all of us."
Unsurprisingly, Trump wasn't happy about these comments, but of course he couldn't respond like a normal person.
He told the crowd:
"You know who was nasty to me? Michelle Obama. I always tried to be so nice and respectful.”
Trump spent years claiming President Obama was born in Kenya and hence unfit to be President, but sure.
He went on to say:
"She opened up a little bit of a, a little bit of a box. She opened up a little bit of something. Oh, she was nasty, oooh.”
“That was a big mistake that she made."
That last part definitely raised eyebrows—to many it sounded explicitly like a threat, and many said so on social media.
Of course others made fun of the very notion that Michelle Obama would ever be frightened of the likes of Donald Trump.
Naturally, conservatives immediately began bellyaching online about how Trump never threatened her and liberals were ginning up a lie about his comments.
But leave it to Trump's crowd in Atlanta to understand exactly what Trump means by his comments, reprising a favorite old MAGA chant and repurposing it for Michelle Obama: "Lock her up."
@mehcadbrooks/Threads