Michelle Obama rallies for Harris, makes plea to male voters in battleground Michigan

Former First Lady Michelle Obama made a blunt appeal to male voters as she hit the campaign trail for Vice President Harris in battleground Michigan on Saturday, warning that women's lives would be at risk under another White House term for former President Trump.

“To think that the men that we love could be either unaware or indifferent to our plight is simply heartbreaking. It is a sad statement about our value as women in this world. It is both a setback in our quest for equity and a huge blow to our country's standing as a world leader on issues of women's health and gender equality," Obama asked a crowd in Kalamazoo, Mich. "So fellas, before you cast your votes, ask yourselves: what side of history do you want to be on?”

As the polls show a stark gender divide in the presidential race, the former first lady argued another Trump term would exacerbate threats to women’s healthcare and reproductive rights, pleading “to the men who love us” to “take our lives seriously.”

She acknowledged some voters' anger and disillusionment over "a slow pace of change" but stressed the consequences of sitting out the election or voting against Harris.

“It is reasonable to be frustrated. We all know we have a lot more work to do in this country. But to anyone out there thinking about sitting out this election or voting for Donald Trump or a third-party candidate in protest because you're fed up: Let me warn you, your rage does not exist in a vacuum,” Obama said.

“If we don't get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women will become collateral damage to your rage,” she said, prompting applause and cheers. "Are you, as men, prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them that you supported this assault on our safety?"

The former first lady called Karris a "dear friend" and urged voters to put "a grownup" in the White House. She endorse d Harris after President Biden's exit from the race this summer, but Saturday marked her first time on the trail for the campaign. Her husband, former President Obama, hit the trail for Harris this month and joined the vice president in Georgia on Thursday.

Barack Obama has made a stern appeal to Black male voters, in particular along the campaign trail, amid signs of potentially softening support for Harris from the demographic.

“Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that,” he said in Pennsylvania earlier this month.

The Harris campaign, which has seen a surge of energy from young voters broadly, has been making recent moves to reach the subset of young male voters amid signs of a growing gender gap among Americans under 30 that could create an opening for Trump.

Harris took the stage after Obama at the Kalamazoo rally, which Obama dubbed "Kamalazoo." She called the former first lady "an inspiration" who "motivates us to get to work, especially when the stakes are high."

Meanwhile, Trump also rallied in Michigan on Saturday, doubling down on his criticism of Obama.

Michigan is one of a handful of critical battleground states, where the latest polling averages from Decision Desk HQ and The Hill show Harris and Trump now at an exact tie – with less than two weeks until Election Day. Nationally, the averages give Harris a razor-thin 0.7-point lead.