In a moment reminiscent of her husband’s 2008 narcissistic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2pZSvq9bto">claim</a> that his clinching the nomination for the presidency was the moment when “the rise of the oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal,” former First Lady Michelle Obama, speaking at the Obama Foundation Summit at the Illinois Institute of Technology, posited that people all over the world feel that Barack Obama <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/michelle-obama-claims-so-many-people-around-the-world-feel-like-barack-obama-is-their-president?utm_content=bufferbe0f6&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=tw-theblaze">is their president</a>.
Michelle Obama stated:
<blockquote>Barack&#8217;s presidential library could have been anywhere in the world because there are so many people who feel like he is their president all over the world. New York wanted it; Hawaii wants it; because it’s also an economic engine because it will be a visited presidential library. Because it’s going to be a live, It’s a first. So we had to think of where will we put this resource, because it will be a resource.</blockquote>
Perhaps Michelle Obama might want to check with the people of Poland. In 2009, Obama canceled an anti-ballistic missile system. In 2012, President Bronislaw Komorowski slammed Obama saying, &#8220;Our mistake was that by accepting the American offer of a shield we failed to take into account the political risk associated with a change of president. We paid a high political price. We do not want to make the same mistake again. We must have a missile system as an element of our defenses.&#8221; The <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/9456610/Polish-president-accuses-Obama-of-betraying-Poland.html">Telegraph</a> noted, “Mr. Obama&#8217;s decision to scrap George W Bush&#8217;s original missile shield dismayed the Polish government, especially as many Poles saw it as an attempt to appease Russia, Poland&#8217;s historical and Cold War foe.”
Or Michelle Obama could ask the people of Israel, who watched during the 2014 Gaza War against the terrorist group Hamas as Obama <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-official-confirms-us-nixed-missile-sale-pm-blamed-for-soured-ties/">suspended a shipment of Hellfire missiles to Israel</a>, endangering Israel, which was under siege from rocket attacks. Or the people of Israel could remember Barack Obama ignoring the numerous murderous terrorist attacks launched in Israel by Palestinian Arabs, saying as a presidential candidate in 2008:
<blockquote>This is the moment when we must defeat terror and dry up the well of extremism that supports it. This threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it. If we could create NATO to face down the Soviet Union, we can join in a new and global partnership to dismantle the networks that have struck in Madrid and Amman; in London and Bali; in Washington and New York.” Obama didn’t mention Israel.</blockquote>
Or Michelle Obama could ask the people of Crimea, who watched as Russia’s Vladmir Putin launched an annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Obama’s White House weakly protested, calling it a &#8220;breach of international law.&#8221; As <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-declares-war-1393773084?tesla=y">The Wall Street Journal</a> mocked Obama in an op-ed, “That will have the Kremlin quaking.” The Journal added, “The only concrete U.S. action was to suspend participation in preparations for June&#8217;s G-8 summit in Sochi.” The Journal concluded, “The Ukrainians can&#8217;t be left alone to face Russia, and the Kremlin&#8217;s annexation of Crimea can&#8217;t be allowed to stand.”
Or Michelle Obama could ask the people of Syria, who watched after Syrian president Bashar al-Assad allegedly launched a Sarin nerve gas attack that “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/16/syrian-chemical-attack-sarin-says-un">killed more than 1,000 people</a>, hundreds of them children,” as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/10/epic-failure-of-our-age-how-west-failed-syria">The Guardian</a> reported, and Obama, who had insisted that use of chemical weapons would be crossing a “red line,” announced the U.S. would not attack the Assad regime.

Barack And Michelle Obama Speak At Obama Foundation Summit

Michelle Obama Boasts: The World Feels Barack Is ‘Their President’

Barack Obama

Crimea

Israel

Michelle Obama

Poland

Syria

Former First Lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday that she &#8220;can&#8217;t make people not afraid of black people,&#8221; though she tries to &#8220;pick away at the scabs of discrimination.&#8221;
&#8220;As people doubted us coming through — &#8216;Are you Princeton material? Can you really make the grade? Can you cut it?&#8217; — what do you do in those instances? All you can do is put your head down and do the work and let the work, your truth, speak for itself,&#8221; Mrs. Obama explained at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago, as reported by <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/467941-michelle-obama-i-cant-make-people-not-afraid-of-black-people">The Hill</a>.
&#8220;I can&#8217;t make people not afraid of black people. I don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s going on. I can&#8217;t explain what&#8217;s happening in your head,&#8221; she said.
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&#8220;But maybe if I show up every day as a human, a good human, doing wonderful things, loving my family, loving our kids, taking care of things that I care about — maybe, just maybe that work will pick away at the scabs of our discrimination,&#8221; the 55-year-old continued, receiving cheers from the audience. &#8220;Maybe that will slowly unravel it.&#8221;
&#8220;That&#8217;s all we have,&#8221; Mrs. Obama continued. &#8220;Because we can&#8217;t do it for them, because they&#8217;re broken. Their brokenness in how they see us is a reflection of this brokenness. And you can&#8217;t fix that. All you can do is the work.&#8221;
The former First Lady also lamented so-called &#8220;white flight&#8221; during the summit interview.
&#8220;As families like ours — upstanding families like ours who were doing everything we were supposed to do and better. As we moved in, white folks moved out because they were afraid of what our families represented,&#8221; she said, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/yall-were-running-from-us-michelle-obama-claims-white-folks-are-afraid-of-living-in-black-neighborhoods">The Washington Examiner</a>.
&#8220;I want to remind white folks that y’all were running from us &#8230; This family, with all the values that you read about, you were running from us. And you’re still running because we’re no different than the immigrant families that are moving in,&#8221; Mrs. Obama claimed. &#8220;The families that are coming from other places to try to do better. But, because we can so easily wash over who we really were — because of the color of our skin, because of the texture of our hair — that’s what divides countries, artificial things.&#8221;
According to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/internet-wrecks-obamas-over-15-million-marthas-amanda-prestigiacomo">reporting</a> this summer, the Obamas are on track to buy a $15 million beachfront property at Martha’s Vineyard.
Mrs. Obama, a Princeton University graduate, was our nation&#8217;s First Lady for eight years. In 2018, Americans named Mrs. Obama the most admirable woman, edging out former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/245669/michelle-obama-ends-hillary-clinton-run-admired.aspx">Gallop</a> polling. Oprah Winfrey came in a distant second to Mrs. Obama.
Moreover, Mrs. Obama&#8217;s husband, former President Barack Obama, &#8220;was the winner among men for the 11th consecutive year, including one year as president-elect, eight as president and two as former president,&#8221; Gallop reported.
Mr. Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate and then as president of the United States for eight years, elected each time despite what the Democrats suggest is America&#8217;s endemic racism.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Michelle Obama: &quot;I can&#39;t make people not afraid of black people. I don&#39;t know what&#39;s going on, I can&#39;t explain what&#39;s happening in your head, but maybe if I show up every day as a human, a good human &#8230; Just maybe that work will pick away at the scabs of your discrimination.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/DBo169sN0Y">pic.twitter.com/DBo169sN0Y</a>
&mdash; Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1189331149153280000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/obama-get-over-being-woke-stop-online-outrage-cancel-culture">Obama: ‘Get Over’ Being ‘Woke,’ Stop Online Outrage Cancel Culture</a>
</div>

WATCH: Michelle Obama Says She &#8216;Can&#8217;t Make People Not Afraid Of Black People,&#8217; Laments &#8216;White Flight&#8217;

Racism

Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama are now Hollywood power players, according to the latest top 100 list from <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/thr-100-hollywood-reporters-powerful-people-entertainment-1246527/item/thr-100-2019-dick-wolf-1246575" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-track-label="inline|intext|n/a">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
Clocking in at number 50 ahead of top names like Jeffrey Katzenberg and James Cameron, THR said that the Obamas are soaring into Hollywood with deals from every corner:
<blockquote>Who wouldn&#8217;t take their call? The former president, 58, and first lady, 55, kicked off 2019 with a Sundance acquisition — doc American Factory, which premiered to strong reviews on Netflix in August en route to an awards-season run. Tonia Davis and Priya Swaminathan, co-heads of Obama banner Higher Ground, are steering projects under the couple&#8217;s deal with the streamer — including adaptations of David W. Blight&#8217;s Frederick Douglass bio and Michael Lewis&#8217; Fifth Risk, and Bloom, a post-World War II-era show about fashion — plus podcasts under a new deal with Spotify.</blockquote>
Earlier this year, the Obamas&#8217; production company, Higher Ground, announced an impressive slate of content for Netflix and Spotify. Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos hailed their slate as a symbol of their commitment to “diverse creators and unique voices.”
“President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and the Higher Ground team are building a company focused on storytelling that exemplifies their core values,” Sarandos said. “The breadth of their initial slate across series, film, documentary, and family programming shows their commitment to diverse creators and unique voices that will resonate with our members around the world.”
In a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/here-are-seven-projects-barack-and-michelle-obama-paul-bois">statement announcing the projects</a> at the time, former President Obama said that Higher Ground is proud to use the power of dramatic narrative to explore social justice issues. “We created Higher Ground to harness the power of storytelling,” he said. “That’s why we couldn’t be more excited about these projects. Touching on issues of race and class, democracy and civil rights, and much more, we believe each of these productions won’t just entertain, but will educate, connect and inspire us all.”
Michelle Obama said the projects will offer something “for everyone” that will likely generate conversations. “We love this slate because it spans so many different interests and experiences, yet it’s all woven together with stories that are relevant to our daily lives,” she said. “We think there’s something here for everyone — moms and dads, curious kids, and anyone simply looking for an engaging, uplifting watch at the end of a busy day. We can’t wait to see these projects come to life — and the conversations they’ll generate.”
In May of 2018, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/28789/netflix-names-former-obama-ambassador-susan-rice-paul-bois">Netflix announced</a> it would be adding to its board of directors former Obama administration United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.
“We are delighted to welcome Ambassdor Rice to the Netflix board,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings at the time. “For decades, she has tackled difficult, complex global issues with intelligence, integrity and insight, and we look forward to benefiting from her experience and wisdom.”
Former Ambassador Rice said she was “thrilled” to be joining the “cutting-edge” company. “I am thrilled to be joining the board of directors of Netflix, a cutting-edge company whose leadership, high-quality productions, and unique culture I deeply admire,” she said at the time.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama Portraits  &#8211; Washington, DC

Barack And Michelle Obama Make List Of Hollywood’s ‘Most Powerful’ People

Hollywood

Netflix

Former White House aide Tina Tchen will take the reins of the &#8220;#MeToo&#8221;-centered Time&#8217;s Up foundation, which advocates for women who face discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault in the entertainment industry &#8212; and its the same Tina Tchen that tried to wield her influence to get former &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor Jussie Smollet off the hook for allegedly filing a false police report in Chicago.
Time&#8217;s Up was formed by Hollywood A-listers in the wake of a high-profile wave of sexual harassment allegations aimed at some of the entertainment industry&#8217;s biggest names. <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/10/times-up-names-former-obama-aide-tina-tchen-as-its-new-president-and-ceo-1202753957/">According to Deadline</a>, the organization primarily runs the Time&#8217;s Up Legal Defense Fund, which helps &#8220;defray legal and public relations costs for those pursuing sexual harassment retaliation claims,&#8221; and which Tchen co-founded back in 2018.
Time&#8217;s Up announced their new hire on Monday in a Tweet. Tchen released a video in partnership with Time&#8217;s Out Monday afternoon. In it, she explains her firm commitment to victims rights and due process.
&#8216;I have been a single working mother throughout my career, and I have never witnessed such an inspiring and honest conversation about the challenges facing women and all workers, including sexual harassment, power, and equity,” Tchen says in the video statement. “I am more optimistic than ever that we can create workplaces where everyone has an equal opportunity to reach their full potential and, in this new role, I’m determined to make it happen.”
Her official biography on the Time&#8217;s Up website describes Tchen as a tireless advocate for women and girls, and a former aide to both Barack and Michelle Obama, serving on the Obama White House&#8217;s gender equality and sexual assault task forces. She most recently worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center, helping to identify and process sexual harassment claims made against some of SPLC&#8217;s power players.
Her goal, she says, is to force workplaces in Hollywood to abide by the letter of the law.
“[We’re going to] work hard at the root cause of sexual harassment: because sexual harassment occurs when we have workplaces that aren’t diverse, that aren’t inclusive, that don’t respect their workers,” Tchen says. “And so we’re going to work with companies, with employers, with employees to make those workplaces ones that are safe, respectful, and where everyone can reach their full potential.”
Tchen has recently made headlines for her involvement in a high profile criminal case recently, but not on the side of victims &#8212; or taxpayers.
According to the Sun Times, Tchen is the former Obama aide who reached out to Cook County State&#8217;s Attorney Kim Foxx to plead Jussie Smollet&#8217;s case.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-michelle-obama-chief-staff-pushed-get-james-barrett">The Daily Wire reported extensively</a> on Tchen&#8217;s involvement in the Smollet case at the time. <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2019/03/13/jussie-smollett-former-obama-aide-asked-fbi-lead-investigation/3156693002/">Court documents revealed</a> that Tchen texted and emailed Foxx at the behest of Jussie Smollet&#8217;s family, begging the Cook County prosecutor to convince the police to drop their case against Smollet or turn over the case to the FBI (which probably would have relegated the case to a low priority).
Foxx ended up recusing herself from the investigation &#8212; at least according to Foxx &#8212; before it concluded, citing her messages with Tchen as evidence she could not claim impartiality in the case. The prosecutor&#8217;s office eventually charged Smollet with 16 counts of lying to police but dropped all counts in an unofficial &#8220;plea deal&#8221; with Jussie, who agreed to do a dozen hours of community service and forfeit a $10,000 bond.
Foxx has come under fire for that decision, particularly in light of recent revelations about her office, including evidence that non-celebrities charged with Smollet&#8217;s same crime received much harsher treatment.

Tina Tchen Time&#8217;s Up

New #MeToo Leader Is Former Obama Aide Who Ran Interference For Jussie Smollet

Jussie Smollett

Sexual Harassment

President Trump started off this week on a Twitter tear, trolling the Democrats on the dead &#8220;collusion&#8221; narrative and the dying &#8220;obstruction&#8221; allegations, flaunting his judicial appointments and America&#8217;s energy progress, smacking the &#8220;horrible&#8221; people in the media for yet another &#8220;assault&#8221; on Brett Kavanaugh, and suggesting it&#8217;s time to start investigating Barack Obama&#8217;s post-presidency Netflix deal.
As The Daily Wire has reported, not long after leaving the White House, Barack and Michelle Obama inked a lucrative, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/46582/here-are-seven-projects-barack-and-michelle-obama-paul-bois">multi-project deal</a> with Netflix, which has run into a few <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51462/obamas-new-production-company-gets-deplorable-james-barrett">legal problems</a> due to a copyright issue, but is still moving forward on cranking out a slate of features, documentaries, and TV series for the streaming platform in the near future.
Trump kicked off Monday by tweaking the Democrat-controlled House Judiciary Committee over collusion and obstruction, then found a way to tie his taunts to Obama. &#8220;House Judiciary has given up on the Mueller Report, sadly for them after two years and $40,000,000 spent — ZERO COLLUSION, ZERO OBSTRUCTION,&#8221; Trump wrote (tweets below). &#8220;So they say, OK, lets look at everything else, and all of the deals that &#8216;Trump&#8217; has done over his lifetime. But it doesn&#8217;t work that way.&#8221;
He then offered the committee &#8220;a better idea&#8221;: &#8220;Look at the Obama Book Deal, or the ridiculous Netflix deal. Then look at all the deals made by the Dems in Congress, the &#8216;Congressional Slush Fund,&#8217; and lastly the IG Reports. Take a look at them. Those investigations would be over FAST!&#8221;
Trump returned to the Obama-Netflix theme a few hours later amid another Mueller report-themed mini-rant. &#8220;[The Democrats] failed on the Mueller Report, they failed on Robert Mueller’s testimony, they failed on everything else, so now the Democrats are trying to build a case that I enrich myself by being President,&#8221; he tweeted. &#8220;Good idea, except I will, and have always expected to, lose BILLIONS of DOLLARS for the privilege of being your President — and doing the best job that has been done in many decades. I am far beyond somebody paying for a hotel room for the evening, or filling up a gas tank at an airport I do not own. These Radical Left Democrats are CRAZY! Obama Netflix?&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s trolling was successful over at the left-leaning outlet <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/trump/trump-suggests-justice-department-investigate-barack-obamas-publishing-and-netflix-deals/">Mediaite</a>, which was clearly incensed about him taunting Obama and spiking the football over the Democrat-disappointing Mueller report. House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler, Mediaite noted, &#8220;announced just last week an active Congressional investigation based in part on details emerged from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office.&#8221; So obstruction isn&#8217;t dead, at least not totally.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51808/trump-check-out-what-nyt-just-had-do-after-james-barrett">The Daily Wire</a> reported earlier, Trump also blasted out to his 64 million followers his thoughts on The New York Times&#8217; recent &#8220;assault&#8221; on Kavanaugh, which it was forced to correct amid pushback by other journalists.
&#8220;&#8216;The New York Times walks back report on Kavanaugh assault claim,'&#8221; he tweeted, citing &#8220;Fox and Friends.&#8221; &#8220;The one who is actually being assaulted is Justice Kavanaugh &#8211; Assaulted by lies and Fake News! This is all about the LameStream Media working with their partner, the Dems.&#8221;
&#8220;Just Out: &#8216;Kavanaugh accuser doesn’t recall incident,'&#8221; he added later, again citing his favorite morning show. &#8220;DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT THESE HORRIBLE PEOPLE WILL DO OR SAY. They are looking to destroy, and influence his opinions &#8211; but played the game badly. They should be sued!&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/51462/obamas-new-production-company-gets-deplorable-james-barrett">Obamas’ New Company Gets ‘Deplorable’ With Smaller Business, Says Lawyer</a>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">House Judiciary has given up on the Mueller Report, sadly for them after two years and $40,000,000 spent &#8211; ZERO COLLUSION, ZERO OBSTRUCTION. So they say, OK, lets look at everything else, and all of the deals that “Trump” has done over his lifetime. But it doesn’t&#8230;.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1173552937542569986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">&#8230;.work that way. I have a better idea. Look at the Obama Book Deal, or the ridiculous Netflix deal. Then look at all the deals made by the Dems in Congress, the “Congressional Slush Fund,” and lastly the IG Reports. Take a look at them. Those investigations would be over FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1173552939019001857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">They failed on the Mueller Report, they failed on Robert Mueller’s testimony, they failed on everything else, so now the Democrats are trying to build a case that I enrich myself by being President. Good idea, except I will, and have always expected to, lose BILLIONS of DOLLARS..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1173597713860046848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">&#8230;.for the privilege of being your President &#8211; and doing the best job that has been done in many decades. I am far beyond somebody paying for a hotel room for the evening, or filling up a gas tank at an airport I do not own. These Radical Left Democrats are CRAZY! Obama Netflix?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1173597715487477760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">“The New York Times walks back report on Kavanaugh assault claim.” <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxandfriends</a> The one who is actually being assaulted is Justice Kavanaugh &#8211; Assaulted by lies and Fake News! This is all about the LameStream Media working with their partner, the Dems.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1173568871481171974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Just Out: “Kavanaugh accuser doesn’t recall incident.” <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxandfriends</a> DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT THESE HORRIBLE PEOPLE WILL DO OR SAY. They are looking to destroy, and influence his opinions &#8211; but played the game badly. They should be sued!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1173576122811985920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>

barack_obama_gi.jpg

Trump: Time To Start Looking Into Obama’s Netflix Deal

Donald Trump

Jerrold Nadler

Robert Mueller

Russia

A production company founded by former first couple Barack and Michelle Obama that was granted a massive contract with Netflix is taking legal action to save its name, &#8220;Higher Ground Productions&#8221; — a nod to Michelle&#8217;s famous line about when their enemies &#8220;go low, we go high.&#8221; But the lawyer for the much-less financially robust company in the Obamas&#8217; crosshairs is decrying their legal team&#8217;s &#8220;deplorable behavior&#8221; and says the Obamas are failing to practice &#8220;the values they preach.&#8221;
On Aug. 20, Higher Grounds Productions, founded shortly after Obama left office, demanded the cancellation of another company&#8217;s earlier trademark, Higher Ground Enterprises, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/barack-obamas-production-company-runs-a-trademark-problem-1236219">The Hollywood Reporter</a>&#8216;s Eriq Gardner reports.
&#8220;Higher Ground Enterprises is run by Hanisya Massey, who, according to her attorney Larry Zerner, is in the business of helping authors publish e-books. Her trademark is in Class 41, which includes entertainment services. Zerner says Massey has been using &#8216;Higher Ground&#8217; since 2008,&#8221; Gardner explains. &#8220;Naturally, as the Obamas came to a lucrative agreement with Netflix for films and television series, Higher Ground Productions came into conflict with Higher Ground Enterprises.&#8221;
The couple contends that the two trademarks should be able to coexist, but a Trademark Examiner disagreed, maintaining that the names of the two companies and the services they offer are too similar. When the office refused to register the Higher Ground Productions mark on April 10, the Obamas chose to take further action, demanding the cancellation of the 2008-founded company&#8217;s trademark.
In response to Obamas&#8217; cancellation demand, Zerner expressed disgust. &#8220;The Obamas have known for almost a year that their Higher Ground trademark application was rejected by the USPTO because it infringed my client&#8217;s rights,&#8221; he said in comments reported by THR. &#8220;Instead, of simply picking another name, the Obamas&#8217; lawyers have now filed a meritless petition to cancel my client&#8217;s trademark so they can take it for themselves. This is really deplorable behavior. I hope that the Obamas realize that these actions are not consistent with the values they preach and that they instruct their attorneys to immediately dismiss the petition.&#8221;
In their failed initial bid to let both trademarks co-exist, the Obamas&#8217; production company sent a letter to the Trademark Office, which, as Hot Air&#8217;s <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/karen-townsend/2019/09/05/legal-woes-obamas-deplorable-behavior-cited/">Karen Townsend</a> puts it, &#8220;arrogantly implies it&#8217;s a distinction between a big, important entertainment deal with the former First Couple and a small business that promotes e-books.&#8221;
&#8220;[T]he consumers of &#8216;media production services&#8217; covered by the Application are likely to be highly sophisticated,&#8221; the letter states, as reported by THR. &#8220;Media production services are generally offered not to individual consumers but to commercial entities and professionals in their field. Indeed, Applicant has entered a deal with Netflix in connection with its media production services. Such customers, whether multi-billion-dollar media companies or smaller commercial entities in need of media production services, will exercise the height of care in selecting a media production company and are highly unlikely to be confused by a photographer or e-book publisher — particularly when the other party uses a distinguishable mark.&#8221;
As reported by <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/04/barack-michelle-obamas-higher-ground-sets-first-netflix-slate-1202604661/">Deadline</a>, in April, the Obamas unveiled their first slate of productions for Netflix, which includes &#8220;American Factory,&#8221; a film that &#8220;takes a deep dive into a post-industrial Ohio, where a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant and hires two thousand blue-collar Americans&#8221;; &#8220;Bloom,&#8221; a &#8220;drama series set in the world of fashion in post-WWII New York City that depicts barriers faced by women and by people of color in an era marked by hurdles but also tremendous progress,&#8221; and a feature film adaptation of &#8220;Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom&#8221; by David W. Blight.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49676/watch-students-slam-trump-statement-immigration-james-barrett">WATCH: Students Slam Trump Statement On Immigration, Then Learn Obama Said It</a>

Obamas’ New Company Gets ‘Deplorable’ With Smaller Business, Says Lawyer

The man who spent eight years lecturing Americans about the evils of wealth and economic inequality, and fear mongered about global warming and climate change is reportedly set to buy a nearly $15 million beachfront Martha&#8217;s Vineyard estate.
According to <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2019/08/22/barack-michelle-obama-buying-mega-mansion-marthas-vinyard/">TMZ</a>, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are in escrow for the multimillion-dollar mansion currently owned by the NBA&#8217;s Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck. &#8220;The former Prez and First Lady have been renting the house this summer and loved it so much, we&#8217;ve learned they made an offer. The property is listed at $14,850,000. Our sources say they&#8217;re paying less, but we don&#8217;t know how much,&#8221; the report says.
The mansion is nearly 6,900 square feet, complete with seven bedrooms, a pool, outdoor fireplace, second-floor balcony jacuzzi, boathouse, and two guest wings, per TMZ.
The irony of Mr. You-didn&#8217;t-build-that and At-a-certain-point-you&#8217;ve-made-enough-money himself living so lavishly was not lost on the internet. Nor was the fact that the property is beachfront (with a massive carbon footprint!). If one were to truthfully believe in the climate hysteria echoed by Obama, this purchase would be highly unwise, as the house will surely be underwater in a matter of years.
Founder of the satirical Babylon Bee Adam Ford pointedly posted:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Obama, 2008: &#8220;When you spread the wealth around, it&#8217;s good for everybody&#8221;
Obama, 2010: &#8220;At a certain point, you&#8217;ve made enough money&#8221;
Obama, 2019: &#8220;I&#8217;ll take the $15 million Martha&#8217;s Vineyard mansion on 29 beachfront acres&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/VVbdAkaq0G">https://t.co/VVbdAkaq0G</a>
— Adam Ford (@Adam4d) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adam4d/status/1164515575156105217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The Federalist’s Inez Stepman mocked, &#8220;You didn&#8217;t build that, guys.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">You didn’t build that, guys. <a href="https://t.co/LT2p0aQKxL">https://t.co/LT2p0aQKxL</a>
— Inez Stepman (@InezFeltscher) <a href="https://twitter.com/InezFeltscher/status/1164576991665885186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Radio host Mark Simone wrote, &#8220;The Obama&#8217;s totally reject socialism and buy another mega mansion – a $15 million dollar Martha&#8217;s Vineyard estate that they&#8217;ll only use a few weeks a year, in an attempt to set a new record for income inequality.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The Obama&#8217;s totally reject socialism and buy another mega mansion &#8211; a $15 million dollar Martha&#8217;s Vineyard estate that they&#8217;ll only use a few weeks a year, in an attempt to set a new record for income inequality: <a href="https://t.co/uSnGSEeaS0">https://t.co/uSnGSEeaS0</a>
— MARK SIMONE (@MarkSimoneNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkSimoneNY/status/1164753421489954817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;&#8216;At a certain point, you&#8217;ve made enough money.&#8217; – guy who got a $65M book deal then bought a 7-bdrm 7,000 sq-foot Martha&#8217;s Vineyard mansion on 29 acres worth $15 million,&#8221; the popular Twitter politico known as Razor jabbed.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">&#8220;At a certain point, you&#8217;ve made enough money.&#8221; -guy who got a $65M book deal then bought a 7-bdrm 7,000 sq-foot Martha&#8217;s Vineyard mansion on 29 acres worth $15 million. <a href="https://t.co/GDryricGp7">https://t.co/GDryricGp7</a>
— Razor (@hale_razor) <a href="https://twitter.com/hale_razor/status/1164635633047855104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;If I genuinely believed in 12 years coastal areas would be under water, I wouldn&#8217;t by a $15 million mansion on&#8230;Martha&#8217;s Vineyard,&#8221; said podcast host <a href="https://twitter.com/RantyAmyCurtis?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Amy Curtis</a>. &#8220;Call me crazy, but it doesn&#8217;t seem like Obama is taking climate change all that seriously.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">If I genuinely believed in 12 years coastal areas would be under water, I wouldn’t by a $15 million mansion on&#8230;Martha’s Vineyard.
Call me crazy, but it doesn’t seem like Obama is taking climate change all that seriously. <a href="https://t.co/VPqaFsovqw">https://t.co/VPqaFsovqw</a>
— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) <a href="https://twitter.com/RantyAmyCurtis/status/1164702001474736128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Poor investment. Martha&#8217;s Vineyard is literally going to be swallowed by the ocean if we don&#8217;t hand over all of our money and freedom to the government to stop Global Warming,&#8221; snarked Federalist contributor known as the &#8220;red-headed libertarian.&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Poor investment. Martha’s Vineyard is literally going to be swallowed by the ocean if we don’t hand over all of our money and freedom to the government to stop Global Warming. <a href="https://t.co/oCkFjK45mK">https://t.co/oCkFjK45mK</a>
— The Red-Headed Libertarian (@TRHLofficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/TRHLofficial/status/1164888447909355521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The estate is currently in escrow and it&#8217;s not a done deal just yet. We&#8217;re told there are contingencies so it&#8217;s possible it could fall apart, but we&#8217;re told so far it&#8217;s a go,&#8221; TMZ said.
According to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/08/22/barack-and-michelle-obama-are-buying-15m-estate-in-marthas-vineyard/">New York Post</a>, the Obamas recently spent $8.1 million on a nine-bedroom home in Washington, D.C. The Post also noted that Mr. Obama had a $40 million net worth in 2018, and combined with the former First Lady’s wealth, the duo are worth an estimated $135 million.

Barack and Michelle Obama

Internet Wrecks Obamas Over $15 Million Martha’s Vineyard Estate

Global Warming

On Thursday&#8217;s episode of &#8220;The Andrew Klavan Show,”&#8221;Klavan discusses what&#8217;s really behind the Democrats&#8217; desire to have Michelle Obama run for president. Video and partial transcript below:
You know, it&#8217;s funny. Just my take, I was watching some of the Democrats reacting to the Democrats, [by that] I mean the press. [They were] reacting to the debate, and I think they have this sinking feeling. There is this idea that the left-wing ideas of the people who are being reasonable, who don&#8217;t want to spend all our money, and don&#8217;t want to offer people all the stuff that we can&#8217;t pay for, and that wouldn&#8217;t work, and would take our freedoms away — those people are the second-tier candidates. It&#8217;s the Elizabeth Warrens and the you know, Bernie Sanders, who are in the lead. And then there&#8217;s Joe Biden and Joe Biden is in this weird position, in that people like him because he looks normal. He represents normalcy. He&#8217;s been around for 150 years, so he&#8217;s not a swamp creature. He is just basically saying, &#8220;You can trust me. I&#8217;m your old pal Joe,&#8221; even though he obviously stands for nothing. He caves in whenever he&#8217;s under pressure. He judges the audience, he judges the voters, without really having any principles to bring to bear. Even so, he reminds people of normalcy. But he&#8217;s kind of dull, and a little bit doddering, and no one knows whether to believe anything he says or not.
And so, it was really interesting, Michael Moore, he was on either CNN or MSNBC. What&#8217;s the difference? Michael Moore the filmmaker, the radical filmmaker went on a 12-minute rant. It was MSNBC which ended with this. Before I play it, I just want to remind you that Moore, as he reminded people, said that Trump was going to win in the last election. Moore&#8217;s superpower is that he is from Detroit Michigan. He is from a working-class background, and so he has some feel — unlike a lot of these people — he has some feel for what ordinary people are thinking, and that&#8217;s why he knew Trump was going to win. And this is what he said:
<blockquote>MOORE: Who can crush Trump? Who&#8217;s the street fighter? We saw it in Bernie last night. Who&#8217;s the street fighter that can crush Trump? And frankly I think there&#8217;s a person that could do this if the election were held today. There is one person that would crush Trump. And she hasn&#8217;t announced yet. And her last name rhymes with Obama, [it] is Obama. Michelle Obama. Everybody watching this right now, knows she is a beloved American. And she would go in there and she would beat him. She would beat him in the debates; he wouldn&#8217;t be able to bully her. He wouldn&#8217;t be able to nickname her. She is beloved.</blockquote>
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You know, it&#8217;s interesting. He&#8217;s making a good point and it could happen. I mean, we all have noticed that Barack Obama has not endorsed Joe Biden, and why not, you know? Is he holding fire? Does he hate Joe, no. I mean, he may be waiting to see what Michelle wants to do. Plus, Michelle&#8217;s autobiography which I have not yet read, but I hear that every conservative should read it because it really sells her as kind of the all-American story. The true up and comer.
She&#8217;s got all the identity politics that the Left wants, she&#8217;s a woman, she&#8217;s black. They loved Obama, and it&#8217;s an interesting thing because she is a beloved American. There&#8217;s just no getting around that, Moore is just telling the truth. She&#8217;s a beloved American. The question is are people going to fall again for [Obama]. I think people voted for Obama, a lot because it made them feel good about themselves. It made them feel good about America. We&#8217;ve gotten past the racism. We&#8217;ve elevated this guy, and I think they got burned.
And it is interesting that even though Obama won re-election, and even though he remained personally popular in the polls; the Democrat Party under Obama was gutted. There was nobody left. There were no governors, there were no state assembly people, there was no senators. They lost both houses. I mean it was amazing how he destroyed the Democrat Party, while remaining popular himself. People liked him. People maybe, like themselves, when they liked him. Maybe they would feel the same way about Michelle. Or maybe they would feel, yeah thanks very much. You know, get a talk show and that&#8217;ll be fine and we&#8217;ll love you there. But we don&#8217;t want you destroying this stuff that Donald Trump has done like increase our wages, and increase our jobs, and keep the peace. Do all the things that Obama failed to do. &#8230;
So, it would be the ultimate left-right race if you think about it for a minute because it would be an attractive, nice, beloved person — whose policies have been proven failure. They have a proven track record of failure. And it would be a mean, belligerent, nasty Donald Trump — whose policies have worked. And that&#8217;s the ultimate Right and Left fight because the Right is the daddy party. It&#8217;s a mean party. It&#8217;s the party who tells you the truth. It&#8217;s the party who gives you a shot in the head when you&#8217;re misbehaving. It&#8217;s the party who thinks people who break the law should be arrested. It&#8217;s the party who thinks what works should be there, instead of what makes us feel good about ourselves.
And the Left is the party of we&#8217;re nice. Here&#8217;s some money, we&#8217;ll take that money from that evil rich guy, and we&#8217;ll give it to you.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/andrew-klavan-show">Watch more of The Andrew Klavan Show here.</a>
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?mt=2">Listen to more of The Andrew Klavan Show on iTunes here.</a>

KLAVAN: Why The Democrats Are Now Turning To Michelle Obama To Be Their Nominee

2020 Election

Andrew Klavan

Democratic Party

Joe Biden

Republican Party

Trump Administration

Michael Moore angered his fellow leftists in 2016 — and greatly improved his credibility as a political analyst — when he accurately predicted that we&#8217;d all soon be referring to Donald Trump as &#8220;PRESIDENT TRUMP.&#8221;
&#8220;I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I gave it to you straight last summer when I told you that Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee for president,&#8221; Moore famously wrote in a post on his website titled &#8220;<a href="https://michaelmoore.com/trumpwillwin/">5 Reasons Why Trump Will Win</a>.&#8221; &#8220;And now I have even more awful, depressing news for you: Donald J. Trump is going to win in November. This wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown and full time sociopath is going to be our next president. President Trump. Go ahead and say the words, ‘cause you’ll be saying them for the next four years: &#8216;PRESIDENT TRUMP.'&#8221;
And now Moore is engaging in more electoral prognostications that Democrats probably won&#8217;t want to hear at this point in the process: The only candidate who Moore believes can truly &#8220;crush&#8221; Trump is not running.
In an interview with MSNBC reported by <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/455702-michael-moore-urges-michelle-obama-to-run-against-trump">The Hill</a>, the progressive documentarian declared that only a person whose last name &#8220;rhymes with Obama&#8221; can beat Trump. The only silver bullet to finally put to death the reign of the Democrats&#8217; archnemesis is &#8220;Michelle Obama.&#8221;
&#8220;Everybody watching this right now knows she is a beloved American and she would go in there and she would beat him,&#8221; Moore told MSNBC.
Beating Trump in total votes is not enough, he said, pointing to twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton garnering 3 million more votes than Trump only to be drowned in red on the electoral map. What Democrats need is a &#8220;street fighter,&#8221; Moore said, because they can&#8217;t remove Trump without first &#8220;crushing&#8221; him.
&#8220;The only way to remove Trump is to crush Trump,&#8221; said Moore. &#8220;And that’s the question that has to be asked, who can crush Trump? Who’s the street fighter?&#8221;
While four of the current candidates have a chance at beating him in total votes, Moore fears that will not be enough. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) could potentially beat Trump, but they can&#8217;t &#8220;crush&#8221; him in the way Moore believes necessary to truly take him down.
&#8220;She would beat him in the debates, he wouldn’t be able to bully her, he wouldn’t be able to nickname her,&#8221; said Moore, describing her as &#8220;powerful&#8221; and &#8220;so good&#8221; on stage. Moore pleaded with someone to ask her step up and serve.
In his famous 2016 <a href="http://michaelmoore.com/trumpwillwin/">Trump analysis</a>, Moore listed five reasons he believed Trump would win, including his appeal to the Rust Belt voters, backlash among &#8220;angry white men,&#8221; Hillary&#8217;s widespread unpopularity, including among Democrats, the &#8220;depressed Sanders vote,&#8221; and &#8220;the electorate’s ability to be mischievous&#8221; and vote for a nonpolitical figure who shakes things up. The most specific and prescient of his predictions was his assessment of the Rust Belt situation heading into November, which read in part:
<blockquote>Trump is ahead of Hillary in the latest polls in Pennsylvania and tied with her in Ohio. Tied? How can the race be this close after everything Trump has said and done? Well maybe it’s because he’s said (correctly) that the Clintons’ support of NAFTA helped to destroy the industrial states of the Upper Midwest. Trump is going to hammer Clinton on this and her support of TPP and other trade policies that have royally screwed the people of these four states. When Trump stood in the shadow of a Ford Motor factory during the Michigan primary, he threatened the corporation that if they did indeed go ahead with their planned closure of that factory and move it to Mexico, he would slap a 35% tariff on any Mexican-built cars shipped back to the United States. It was sweet, sweet music to the ears of the working class of Michigan, and when he tossed in his threat to Apple that he would force them to stop making their iPhones in China and build them here in America, well, hearts swooned and Trump walked away with a big victory that should have gone to the governor next-door, John Kasich. [&#8230;] In 2012, Mitt Romney lost by 64 electoral votes. Add up the electoral votes cast by Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. It’s 64. All Trump needs to do to win is to carry, as he’s expected to do, the swath of traditional red states from Idaho to Georgia (states that’ll never vote for Hillary Clinton), and then he just needs these four rust belt states. He doesn’t need Florida. He doesn’t need Colorado or Virginia. Just Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And that will put him over the top. This is how it will happen in November.</blockquote>

Michael Moore: Only One Candidate Can ‘Crush’ Trump, And She’s Not Running

Bernie Sanders

Elizabeth Warren

Kamala Harris

Michael Moore

In the midst of President Trump’s fierce criticism of Rep. Elijah Cummings and Baltimore city officials for letting Baltimore slide into decrepitude, former First Lady Michelle Obama took a shot at Trump, trolling him by tweeting an homage to a Baltimore step-dancing team who pointedly intoned, “When someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don&#8217;t stoop to their level. When they go low, we go high.” Obama tweeted, “On <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NationalDanceDay?src=hash">#NationalDanceDay</a>, I&#8217;m shouting out the Lethal Ladies, a Baltimore STEP team who I saw perform back in 2017. I’m so proud of you all—and everyone who’s dancing today!”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">On <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NationalDanceDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NationalDanceDay</a>, I&#8217;m shouting out the Lethal Ladies, a Baltimore STEP team who I saw perform back in 2017. I’m so proud of you all—and everyone who’s dancing today! <a href="https://t.co/U15Be9wSMs">pic.twitter.com/U15Be9wSMs</a>
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichelleObama/status/1155164280544739328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/28/us/michelle-obama-baltimore-trump-tweets-trnd/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_term=link&amp;utm_content=2019-07-30T06%3A31%3A03">CNN</a> hyperventilated, “Michelle Obama is a master in the subtle art of shade.&#8221;
After the president slammed the “squad” of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Obama tweeted, “What truly makes our country great is its diversity. I’ve seen that beauty in so many ways over the years. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there’s a place for us all. We must remember it’s not my America or your America. It’s our America.”
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">What truly makes our country great is its diversity. I’ve seen that beauty in so many ways over the years. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there’s a place for us all. We must remember it’s not my America or your America. It’s our America.
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichelleObama/status/1152303775236919296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2019</a></blockquote>
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CNN<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/19/politics/michelle-obama-tweet-trump-the-squad/index.html"> referred</a> to the tweets Trump had issued targeting the “squad” as racist. CNN wrote, “Her comment comes after Trump launched days of controversy with a racist attack ….”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49229/michelle-obama-rips-trumps-2017-inaugural-crowd-hank-berrien">Sometimes</a> Michelle Obama is not “a master in the subtle art of shade.” In early July, she <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/07/07/michelle-obama-inaguration-essence-orig-me.cnn">ripped the crowd</a> that attended President Trump’s 2017 inauguration, snapping that they were “not reflective of the country.”
Speaking at the Essence Festival in New Orleans with CNN host Gayle King, Michelle Obama <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/451925-michelle-obama-reveals-how-she-felt-during-trumps-inauguration">stated</a>, “And then we had to meet the Trumps. That day was very emotional and then to sit at that inauguration and to look around at a crowd that was not reflective of the country, and I had to sit in that audience, one of a handful of people of color, and then listen to that speech, all that I had sort of held on to for eight years, watching my husband get raked over the coals, feeling like we had to do everything perfectly, so by the time I got on that plane, it was release of eight years of having to try to show up, as we all know we have to do, not only perfectly but a little bit better than perfect to even be considered equal.”
One month after Trump was elected, Michelle Obama posited that Trump’s election portended hopelessness in America, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/11726/michelle-ripped-trump-heres-his-crushing-response-james-barrett">opining</a>, &#8220;We feel the difference now. See, now, we are feeling what not having hope feels like. Hope is necessary. It&#8217;s a necessary concept and Barack didn&#8217;t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believe that — what else do you have if you don&#8217;t have hope. What do you give your kids if you can&#8217;t give them hope?&#8221;
The next day, Trump fired back, asserting, “Michelle Obama said yesterday that there’s no hope. But I assume she was talking about the past, not the future&#8230; Because I’m telling you, we have tremendous hope, and we have tremendous promise and tremendous potential. We are going to be so successful as a country again. We are going to be amazing.&#8221;

Michelle Obama, CNN&#8217;s ‘Master In The Subtle Art Of Shade,’ Trolls Trump Over Baltimore

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour dodged questions about First Lady Melania Trump on Sunday and instead pivoted to offer high praise of former First Lady Michelle Obama.
“I think it’s important for Vogue to support women who are leading change in this country,” Wintour said while being interviewed by Anna McElvoy for “The Economist.”
McElvoy suggested that President Donald Trump could be dressing “in his sort of ill-fitting suits and the strange trousers and red baseball camp” as a way to purposely echo his political base, but noted that the first lady is much more stylish and collected.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">Which first lady wore the role best? Anna Wintour talks politics and fashion with <a href="https://twitter.com/annemcelvoy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AnneMcElvoy</a> on “The Economist asks” podcast <a href="https://t.co/0mHlLjtf06">https://t.co/0mHlLjtf06</a> <a href="https://t.co/gIoUpd3teo">pic.twitter.com/gIoUpd3teo</a>
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheEconomist/status/1152873440191418369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2019</a></blockquote>
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“Melania, put together in a much more put-together way,” McElvoy said. “She did come to the UK, and I think very consciously, wanted to see herself as an ambassador for British fashion, in this case, or a transatlantic ambassador, I mean. Do you value that?”
“Well, I think first lady Michelle Obama really was so incredible in every decision she made about fashion,” Wintour responded. “She supported young American designers. She supported designers, indeed, from all over the world.”
“She was the best ambassador that this country could possibly have in many ways, obviously, way beyond fashion,” Wintour added.
When McElvoy clarified that Michelle Obama is no longer the first lady and again asked her thoughts on Melania Trump, Wintour responded that Michelle Obama is the example of a fashion ambassador whom she admires.
Wintour has headed Vogue, the world’s leading fashion magazine, for more than three decades. Although the New York-based editor was born in London, she later became an American citizen. However, she has also received multiple honors from the Queen including Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2008 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2017, according to <a href="https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/anna-wintour-dbe-queen-elizabeth-buckingham-palace-bee-shaffer-10882140/">The Guardian</a>.
Wintour has been an outspoken supporter of former President Barack Obama but has not been shy about her criticism of the Trump administration and consequent dislike of the Trump family.
While discussing Vogue’s longstanding tradition of featuring first ladies on the cover when they get into office, Wintour implied during an interview in April that the current first lady will not be seen on any of her future covers.
Responding to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour’s contention that she has been “overtly political,” Wintour noted that when it comes to cover features and profiles, the Vogue editor-in-chief must take a stand.
“I also feel even more strongly now that this is a time to try and – I think that one has to be fair, one has to look at all sides – but I don’t think it’s a moment not to take a stand,” Wintour said at the time. “I think you can’t be everything to everybody.”
“To be on the cover of Vogue doesn’t define Mrs. Trump, she’s been there and done that long before she was first lady,” Melania Trump’s office fired back <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/melania-trump-anna-wintour-vogue-cnn-first-lady">in a statement</a>. “Her role as first lady of the United States and all that she does is much more important than some superficial shoot and cover.”
“This just further demonstrates how biased the fashion magazine industry is and shows how insecure and small-minded Anna Wintour really is,&#8221; the statement continued. “Unfortunately, Mrs. Trump is used to this kind of behavior.&#8221;

LISTEN: Vogue Editor-In-Chief Anna Wintour Snubs Melania As First Lady … Again

Melania Trump

Former First Lady Michelle Obama took a veiled shot at President Trump for his public feud with &#8220;The Squad&#8221; — the four far-left congresswomen whom he told to &#8220;go back&#8221; to their countries of origin if they don&#8217;t like the United States.
In a tweet on Friday, Michelle Obama made no mention of the current president when she hailed America&#8217;s &#8220;diversity&#8221; as the source of its greatness and said that &#8220;there&#8217;s a place for all of us.&#8221;
&#8220;What truly makes our country great is its diversity,&#8221; the former first lady tweeted. &#8220;I’ve seen that beauty in so many ways over the years. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there’s a place for us all. We must remember it’s not my America or your America. It’s our America.&#8221;
Though she did not utter President Trump&#8217;s name, the tweet appears to be a response to president&#8217;s &#8220;go back&#8221; tweet directed at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) this past Sunday.
“So interesting to see ‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run,&#8221; President Trump tweeted. &#8220;Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done.&#8221;
As accusations of racism mounted, President Trump&#8217;s HUD Secretary Ben Carson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49593/ben-carson-trumps-not-racist-paul-bois">came to his defense</a> to highlight the many fruits his administration&#8217;s policies have yielded for minorities.
&#8220;I have an advantage of knowing the president very well, and he&#8217;s not a racist and his comments are not racist,&#8221; Ben Carson said on America&#8217;s Newsroom, as noted by <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/ben-carson-trump-not-racist">Fox News</a>. &#8220;But he loves the country very much and, you know, he has a feeling that those who represent the country should love it as well.&#8221;
The feud between President Trump and &#8220;The Squad&#8221; escalated further later in the week when people in attendance at a campaign rally speech of his in North Carolina began chanting &#8220;send her back&#8221; in reference to Ilhan Omar — a criticism that both left-wing and right-wing pundits felt went too far. The next day, however, President Trump said he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49641/excellent-trump-president-denounces-send-her-back-ryan-saavedra">disagreed with the chant</a>.
&#8220;I disagree with it &#8230; I felt a little bit badly about it &#8230; I was not happy with it, I disagree with it,&#8221; the president told reporters.
Of his supporters who participated in the chant, the president said: &#8220;These are people that love our country. I want them to keep loving our country. And I think the congresswomen, by the way, should be more positive than they are … they have a big obligation … to love your country. … I’ve seen statements that they’ve made with such hatred toward our country, and I don’t think that’s a good thing.&#8221;

Michelle Obama Appears To Take Tacit Shot At Trump For Fighting ‘The Squad’

Ilhan Omar

Former First Lady Michelle Obama will not be coming to former Vice President Joe Biden&#8217;s defense anytime soon as he faces severe criticism from members of the Democratic Party for recently praising two white segregationists as examples in political civility.
Speaking with Gayle King on Saturday at the Essence Festival, Michelle Obama refused to comment on the brewing feud between Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Joe Biden as they fight for the 2020 nomination.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been doing this rodeo far too long,&#8221; Obama said in response to King&#8217;s question about the controversy, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michelle-obama-comment-biden-apology-holds-off-endorsement/story?id=64174424">ABC News</a>. &#8220;And no comment.&#8221;
Joe Biden stepped into some serious trouble last month when he reminisced about working closely with two Democratic segregationists to get bills passed during his rookie years in the United States Senate.
&#8220;I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland,&#8221; Biden said, reportedly in a southern accent. “He never called me boy, he always called me son.&#8221;
Sen. James O. Eastland (D-MS) fervently opposed civil rights and has been referred to as the &#8220;Voice of the White South.&#8221; Biden also held up Sen. Herman Talmadge (D-GA) as an example of political civility — a man whom Biden described as being &#8220;one of the meanest guys I ever knew.&#8221;
&#8220;Well guess what? At least there was some civility,&#8221; he said of Talmadge. &#8220;We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished. But today you look at the other side and you’re the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don’t talk to each other anymore.&#8221;
At the first Democratic Party presidential debate, Kamala Harris used Biden&#8217;s comments against him when she publicly accused him on national television of being insensitive on race relations. Polls following the debate showed his lead <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/48996/joe-bidens-support-drops-10-points-following-paul-bois">dropping significantly</a>.
&#8220;It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing,&#8221; Harris said on the debate stage. &#8220;And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.&#8221;
Though Biden largely refused to back down from his comments, he finally caved to the political pressure over the weekend when he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49216/now-joe-biden-regrets-segregationist-remarks-paul-bois">expressed &#8220;regret&#8221;</a> for what he had said of Eastland and Talmadge.
&#8220;Was I wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that I was praising those men whom I successfully opposed time and again? Yes, I was,&#8221; Biden said. &#8220;I regret it, and I’m sorry for any of the pain or misconception maybe I caused anybody.&#8221;
In the same interview with King on Saturday, Michelle Obama reiterated that she and her husband will not be endorsing Joe Biden (or any candidate) until after the primary has concluded.
<div class="embed tweet"></div>
&#8220;Barack and I are going to support whoever wins the primary, so &#8230; our primary focus is letting the primary process play out, because it&#8217;s very early,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I mean, that&#8217;s one of the things that we learned in the campaign. It is early; it&#8217;s like trying to figure out who&#8217;s winning the World Series on the first seven games. I mean that&#8217;s where we are right now, it is so early.&#8221;

Michelle Obama Will Not Defend Joe Biden, Holds Off Endorsement

On Saturday, former First Lady Michelle Obama <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/07/07/michelle-obama-inaguration-essence-orig-me.cnn">ripped the crowd</a> that attended President Trump’s 2017 inauguration, snapping that they were “not reflective of the country.”
Speaking at the Essence Festival in New Orleans with CNN host Gayle King, Michelle Obama <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/451925-michelle-obama-reveals-how-she-felt-during-trumps-inauguration">stated</a>, “And then we had to meet the Trumps. That day was very emotional and then to sit at that inauguration and to look around at a crowd that was not reflective of the country, and I had to sit in that audience, one of a handful of people of color, and then listen to that speech, all that I had sort of held on to for eight years, watching my husband get raked over the coals, feeling like we had to do everything perfectly, so by the time I got on that plane, it was release of eight years of having to try to show up, as we all know we have to do, not only perfectly but a little bit better than perfect to even be considered equal.”
Asked about what it was like campaigning with her husband, Michelle Obama <a>said</a> Americans tried to “take me out by the knees,” claiming, “For a minute there, I was an angry black woman who was emasculating her husband. As I got more popular, that&#8217;s when people of all sides &#8212; Democrats and Republicans &#8212; tried to take me out by the knees and the best way to do it was to focus on the one thing people were afraid of: the strength of a black woman.”
Obama consoled the audience by asserting, “Don’t be upset over our legacy; me and Barack are cool, y’know. What we have to be really conscientious of is what kind of country are we leaving for our children and our grandchildren.”
One month after Trump was elected, Michelle Obama posited that Trump’s election portended hopelessness in America, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/11726/michelle-ripped-trump-heres-his-crushing-response-james-barrett">opining</a>, &#8220;We feel the difference now. See, now, we are feeling what not having hope feels like. Hope is necessary. It&#8217;s a necessary concept and Barack didn&#8217;t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believe that — what else do you have if you don&#8217;t have hope. What do you give your kids if you can&#8217;t give them hope?&#8221;
The next day, Trump fired back, asserting, “Michelle Obama said yesterday that there’s no hope. But I assume she was talking about the past, not the future&#8230; Because I’m telling you, we have tremendous hope, and we have tremendous promise and tremendous potential. We are going to be so successful as a country again. We are going to be amazing.&#8221;
In April 2018, Michelle Obama <a href="%2522And%20now%20we%20have%20the%20other%20parent,%2522%20she%20continued.%20%2522We%20thought%20it'd%20feel%20fun%20%25E2%2580%2594%20maybe%20it%20feels%20fun%20for%20now%20because%20we%20can%20eat%20candy%20all%20day%20and%20stay%20up%20late%20and%20not%20follow%20the%20rules.%2522">told an audience</a> that her husband&#8217;s administration was like &#8220;having the &#8216;good parent&#8217; at home — the responsible parent, the one who told you to eat your carrots and go to bed on time,&#8221; then mocked President Trump’s by saying, &#8220;And now we have the other parent. We thought it&#8217;d feel fun — maybe it feels fun for now because we can eat candy all day and stay up late and not follow the rules.&#8221;

Michelle Obama Rips Trump&#8217;s 2017 Inaugural: Crowd Not  ‘Reflective’ Of America

On Tuesday’s episode of “The Andrew Klavan Show,” Klavan discusses a new video released by The New York Times which claims that the United States is not great, and what that means for the other political side of the aisle. Video and partial transcript below.
The New York Times, this morning, the former newspaper, ran a video op-ed called something like &#8220;Stop telling me America is great&#8221;, and they ran this thing. It&#8217;s very well-made. It&#8217;s very clever and it puts forward the idea that this whole concept of America being great is ridiculous. Here&#8217;s a cut.
<blockquote>Video: &#8220;America, the greatest country on earth. A narrative packed and sold to tiny patriots. Reinforced by every cartoon, movie, cheeseburger and mattress sale. A mythology so entrenched our most beloved personalities urges never to question it. &#8211; Don&#8217;t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn&#8217;t great. This right now is the greatest country on earth. Greatest country God ever gave. We&#8217;re the greatest country in the world. America is the greatest country in the world. &#8211; But what if we did question it?”</blockquote>
<div class="embed tweet"></div>
It&#8217;s a really dishonest video in a lot of ways. First of all, the entire setup in which children are being taught, all the pictures of the children are from the &#8217;50s. So, the idea that children are being taught this is a great country is kind of garbage. The fact that they put Michelle Obama and then they put Sean Hannity say oh it&#8217;s bad, both on the left and the right, that they&#8217;re saying it&#8217;s a great country. We know that the Obamas did nothing but apologize for this country. We didn&#8217;t forget that Michelle Obama said the first time she was ever proud of her country was the day her husband happened to get elected. So, we know it&#8217;s really only one side. They go on afterwards, I&#8217;m not going to play the whole thing, but they talk about all the ways they think America is not great and some of the stuff they say is fair, but a lot of it is questionable.
So, they use our high poverty rates without mentioning the fact that poverty in America is wealth anywhere else because of wealth transfers. The problem we have here is not that people don&#8217;t have enough money because they can get enough wealth transfer so that people living in poverty today are living at a fairly high level compared to other countries if you&#8217;ve ever been to another country with the exception of Democrat cities where people are homeless. That&#8217;s the kind of poverty that is widespread in a lot of other countries. We&#8217;ll talk about the high mortality rate among infants without mentioning the fact that we try to save a lot more infants who have been born so early that they would die in any other country. So you know the statistics are questionable but I don&#8217;t think that there is any question that this is not the country that it was. That is the fact and is the reason Trump is so popular with his slogan &#8220;Make America Great Again,&#8221; the idea that something has been lost.
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gPSjXvF6LvQ?start=458" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>
I think after eight years of listening to Obama apologize for this country, after eight years of listening to news people, like Katie Couric, who said she was uncomfortable when she saw somebody wearing an American flag pin. Questioning if it wasn&#8217;t going too far, when we were supposed to wonder why Al-Qaeda disliked us, instead of just bombing them into the Stone Age. I mean why should we wonder why animals like al-Qaeda dislike us?
They dislike us because we&#8217;re better than they are and we&#8217;re free. That&#8217;s why they dislike it. And it goes on to talk about how we&#8217;re not free. I mean it really is a dishonest video but still, I can&#8217;t help feeling that everybody senses that this is not the country that it was, and something was lost and a lot of the people in the left say oh that&#8217;s because you&#8217;re a racist. You want to go back to those days of Jim Crow and go back to the days when women were stuck in the house and all this stuff but that&#8217;s nonsense. That&#8217;s absolutely absurd.
What people want is to go back to the days when people were proud of their country when their children were taught to be proud of their country. And yes, now we understand that people were left out. Let&#8217;s include them too. I don&#8217;t think anybody is against that. I think the problem is that we&#8217;ve lost some sense of pride.
You know Gallup has a poll out that says as Americans prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, their pride in the U.S. has hit its lowest point since Gallup&#8217;s first measurement in 2001. While 70 percent of U.S. adults overall say they are proud to be Americans, this includes fewer than half who are extremely proud. Marking the second consecutive year that this reading is below the majority level, it&#8217;s only really a two percent decline which is kind of meaningless. Still, people were extremely proud of America. The last time that number really spiked was after 9/11 when people suddenly realized, &#8220;Oh yeah good country.&#8221; But when you read more closely into this Gallup poll, it&#8217;s the Democrats who weren&#8217;t proud. The latest overall declines in patriotism are largely driven by Democrats whose self-reported pride has historically been lower and has fluctuated more than Republicans.
Democrats latest 22 percent &#8220;extreme pride&#8221; reading is the group&#8217;s lowest in Gallup&#8217;s 19 years of measurement and is half of what it was several months before Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 election victory. So they&#8217;re happy when they&#8217;re winning. They&#8217;re not happy when they&#8217;re losing, which is not true of the Republicans, who remained very proud even during Barack Obama. Republicans have remained extremely proud of their country, and the latest 76 percent reading is just 10 points below the high recorded in 2003. Even when Barack Obama was in office, Republicans&#8217; extreme pride never fell below 68 percent. And that&#8217;s really telling to me; it&#8217;s really telling that when the Democrats lose, they lose their pride.
In other words, they&#8217;re only proud like Michelle Obama. They&#8217;re only proud of a country they run, and they cannot see that there might be another way whereas Republicans are proud of the structure that the friends of the founding right. They understand that the founding is still in place even if they lose an election the fact that there&#8217;s an election, the fact that it works the way it&#8217;s supposed to work, the fact that we transfer power peacefully, that people are still constrained by the Constitution. Obama less than any other president I can think of but still you know was constrained to some degree by the Constitution and by the separation of powers and by the courts who gave him a record number of 9-0 defeats in the Supreme Court because he overreached on his executive powers.
So we remain proud because we feel the system is in place, whereas we know when the Democrats lose, it&#8217;s suddenly all we&#8217;ve got to get rid of the system, we got to stack the Supreme Court, we got to get rid of the electoral college, because they are only proud of this country when they win. And that is the difference between somebody who&#8217;s proud of the founding, who&#8217;s a friend of the founding, and someone who is just proud of himself and think he&#8217;s his own glorious compassion and virtue is going to transform the world into something it has never been ever. And that is the difference.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/andrew-klavan-show&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1562248239664000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHt5J2KejNIZKMc168c9fbTx1Wt2Q">Watch more of The Andrew Klavan Show here</a>.
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?mt=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?mt%3D2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1562248239664000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF-TAjcpeUfjB1FjkvZxTvAB9Lugw">Listen to more of The Andrew Klavan Show on iTunes here.</a>

KLAVAN: When Dems Lose Elections, They Lose Pride In America

Conservatism

New York Times

Patriotism

United States

Barack and Michelle Obama are expanding their media empire beyond just Netflix and have inked a multiyear deal with Spotify to create and host podcasts.
The podcasts will be produced by the Obama family&#8217;s production company, Higher Ground, which already has as many as seven film and television projects in the works with Netflix, reports <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/obamas-ink-deal-spotify-produce-host-podcasts-1216253">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. The podcast division, Higher Ground Audio, will seek to &#8220;build connections&#8221; while sparking &#8220;thought-provoking conversations,&#8221; according to a statement from the former president.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve always believed in the value of entertaining, thought-provoking conversation,&#8221; Barack Obama said. &#8220;It helps us build connections with each other and open ourselves up to new ideas. We&#8217;re excited about Higher Ground Audio because podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together.&#8221;
Former First Lady Michelle Obama said that the audio division of Higher Ground will be focused on amplifying &#8220;voices that are too often ignored or silenced altogether.&#8221;
&#8220;Our hope is that through compelling, inspirational storytelling, Higher Ground Audio will not only produce engaging podcasts, but help people connect emotionally and open up their minds &#8212; and their hearts,&#8221; said Michelle Obama.
Dawn Ostroff, Spotify&#8217;s chief content officer, said that having Barack and Michelle Obama on the platform, which boasts 217 million monthly users, will be a great privilege, believing that they offer an &#8220;unrepresented and indispensable&#8221; narrative.
&#8220;President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are two of the world&#8217;s most important voices and it is a privilege to be working with them to identify and share stories that will inspire our global audience, which looks to Spotify for unique, breakthrough content,&#8221; Ostroff said in a statement. &#8220;Connecting people with original and thoughtful creators &#8212; especially those with the ability to highlight underrepresented and indispensable narratives &#8212; is at the core of our mission and we are thrilled that not only will the Obamas be producing content, but that they will be lending their voices to this effort.&#8221;
In a partnership with Netflix, Higher Ground will also be developing a variety of content, from scripted to non-scripted series along with documentary films. <a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/barack-obama-michelle-obama-higher-ground-productions-co-heads-1203149983/">Variety</a> reported earlier this year that the Obamas put together an impressive executive team of varying film pedigrees. <a data-tag="priya-swaminathan" href="https://variety.com/t/priya-swaminathan/">Priya Swaminathan</a>, a former director of development at Annapurna, and <a data-tag="tonia-davis" href="https://variety.com/t/tonia-davis/">Tonia Davis</a>, former head of development at Chernin Entertainment, were both appointed as co-heads of Higher Ground. Qadriyyah &#8220;Q&#8221; Shamsid-Deen will also serve as a creative executive for the company.
Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said that Higher Ground will express the Obamas&#8217; &#8220;core values,&#8221; hailing their slate as a symbol of their commitment to &#8220;diverse creators and unique voices.&#8221;
&#8220;President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and the Higher Ground team are building a company focused on storytelling that exemplifies their core values,&#8221; Sarandos said. &#8220;The breadth of their initial slate across series, film, documentary, and family programming shows their commitment to diverse creators and unique voices that will resonate with our members around the world.&#8221;

The Obamas Will Now Host Podcasts On Spotify

Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are gearing up to push their social justice messages on Netflix. After <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43993/obamas-production-company-staffs-following-netflix-paul-bois">staffing up</a> this past February, the famous couple&#8217;s production company, Higher Ground, has announced the slate of seven projects that will appear on the streaming giant. The seven projects include three feature films and four TV series, according to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/barack-michelle-obama-set-expansive-film-tv-slate-at-netflix-1205955">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
In a statement announcing the projects, former President Obama said that Higher Ground is proud to use the power of dramatic narrative to explore social justice issues. &#8220;We created Higher Ground to harness the power of storytelling,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s why we couldn&#8217;t be more excited about these projects. Touching on issues of race and class, democracy and civil rights, and much more, we believe each of these productions won&#8217;t just entertain, but will educate, connect and inspire us all.&#8221;
Higher Ground will be developing a variety of content, from scripted to non-scripted series along with documentary films. <a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/barack-obama-michelle-obama-higher-ground-productions-co-heads-1203149983/">Variety</a> reported earlier this year that the Obamas put together an impressive executive team of varying film pedigrees. <a data-tag="priya-swaminathan" href="https://variety.com/t/priya-swaminathan/">Priya Swaminathan</a>, a former director of development at Annapurna, and <a data-tag="tonia-davis" href="https://variety.com/t/tonia-davis/">Tonia Davis</a>, former head of development at Chernin Entertainment, were both appointed as co-heads of Higher Ground. Qadriyyah &#8220;Q&#8221; Shamsid-Deen will also serve as a creative executive for the company.
Michelle Obama said the new slate of seven projects will offer something &#8220;for everyone&#8221; that will likely generate conversations. &#8220;We love this slate because it spans so many different interests and experiences, yet it&#8217;s all woven together with stories that are relevant to our daily lives,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We think there&#8217;s something here for everyone &#8212; moms and dads, curious kids and anyone simply looking for an engaging, uplifting watch at the end of a busy day. We can&#8217;t wait to see these projects come to life &#8212; and the conversations they&#8217;ll generate.&#8221;
Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said that Higher Ground will express Barack and Michelle Obama&#8217;s &#8220;core values,&#8221; hailing their slate as a symbol of their commitment to &#8220;diverse creators and unique voices.&#8221;
&#8220;President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and the Higher Ground team are building a company focused on storytelling that exemplifies their core values,&#8221; Sarandos said. &#8220;The breadth of their initial slate across series, film, documentary, and family programming shows their commitment to diverse creators and unique voices that will resonate with our members around the world.&#8221;
While some of the projects in the Higher Ground slate will indeed explore social justice messages, some, such as the Frederick Douglass biopic, should be fascinating in their own right. Here are the seven projects as profiled by <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/barack-michelle-obama-set-expansive-film-tv-slate-at-netflix-1205955">The Hollywood Reporter</a>:
<blockquote>
American Factory 
The documentary was acquired by Netflix in association with Higher Ground Productions out of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the directing award for U.S. documentary. From Participant Media, the film is directed by Academy Award-nominated and Emmy winners Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert (The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, A Lion in the House, Seeing Red). The acclaimed film takes a deep dive into a post-industrial Ohio, where a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant and hires 2,000 blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America. The producers are Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert and Julie Parker Benello.
Bloom 
The drama is described an upstairs/downstairs series set in the world of fashion in post-WW II New York City that depicts barriers faced by women and by people of color in an era marked by hurdles but also tremendous progress. Bloom is written and executive produced by Academy Award-winner Callie Khouri (Nashville, Thelma and Louise, the upcoming Aretha Franklin movie at MGM), from an idea developed by Khouri, writer-director Clement Virgo (The Book of Negroes, The Wire, Empire) and novelist and producer Juliana Maio (City of the Sun). Higher Ground Productions, Khouri, Virgo and Maio will executive produce the series.
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom 
Higher Ground is producing a feature film adaptation of author David W. Blight&#8217;s Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, for which he won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in History. The New York Times called the book &#8220;an ambitious and empathetic biography of a major American life.&#8221;
Overlooked 
The scripted anthology TV series is adapted from The New York Times&#8217; ongoing obituary column of the same name, telling the stories of remarkable people whose deaths were not reported by the newspaper, Higher Ground is developing it as a scripted anthology series with producers Liza Chasin of 3dot Productions and Joy Gorman Wettels of Anonymous Content.
Listen to Your Vegetables &amp; Eat Your Parents 
The preschool TV series will be a half-hour entry from creators Jeremy Konner (Drunk History) and Erika Thormahlen. The show will take young children and their families around the globe on an adventure that tells us the story of our food.
Fifth Risk 
From Michael Lewis, the best-selling author of The Big Short and Moneyball, and based on his book The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy, the nonfiction series will aim to portray the importance of unheralded work done by everyday heroes guiding our government and safeguarding our nation.
Crip Camp 
This feature-length documentary film in production is supported by the Sundance Institute and was acquired earlier this year by Higher Ground and Netflix. Just down the road from Woodstock, in the early 1970s, a parallel revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers that would transform young lives, and America, forever by helping to set in motion the disability rights movement. The film is directed by former camper Jim LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham. Producers include Newnham, LeBrecht and Sara Bolder, with executive producer Howard Gertler.
</blockquote>

Here Are The Seven Projects Barack And Michelle Obama Are Developing For Netflix

Michelle Obama once accidentally called herself a single mother.
&#8220;Believe me, as a busy single mother &#8212; or, I shouldn&#8217;t say single, as a busy mother,&#8221; she said in an April 2013 TV interview. &#8220;Sometimes, you know, when you&#8217;ve got a husband who is president, it can feel a little single. But he&#8217;s there.&#8221;
She went on to praise busy mothers &#8212; single or not &#8212; listing out the woes of &#8220;working, driving kids to practice, not having enough time to shop or cook, not having the energy, you know, the resources weren&#8217;t the issue but time and energy is key.&#8221;
But the former first lady doesn&#8217;t seem to be too keen on single fathers.
She took a swipe at President Donald Trump &#8212; and single dads &#8212; during an event in London on Sunday. Hawking her new book &#8220;Becoming,&#8221; she sat down with late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert at the O2 Arena, where she first bragged about how good things were when The Chosen One was in the White House.
&#8220;For anyone who had any problems with Barack Obama, let&#8217;s just think about what we were troubled by &#8212; there were never any indictments,&#8221; she said.
Then she joked that America during Trump&#8217;s presidency is like being a teenager from a broken home.
&#8220;We come from a broken family, we are a little unsettled,&#8221; Obama said. &#8220;Sometimes, you spend the weekend with divorced dad. That feels like fun but then you get sick. That is what America is going through. We are living with divorced dad.&#8221;
Interestingly, Barack Obama is the product of a broken family. His white mother and black father were married in 1961, six months before he was born, and split in 1964. His estranged father would visit him in Hawaii only once before he died in a car accident in 1982. His father&#8217;s absence was part of the driving force behind Obama&#8217;s memoir, &#8220;Dreams from My Father.&#8221;
He was also an advocate of fathers while president, even urging black men to stay in a family unit. &#8220;Fathers are our first teachers and coaches &#8230; they&#8217;re our mentors, our role models,&#8221; the president told a gathering of local students and their families in 2010.
An official Father&#8217;s Day Proclamation he issued that same year praised single fathers, saying &#8220;nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step-father, a grandfather, or caring guardian.&#8221; Weirdly, no single mothers in those &#8220;nurturing families.&#8221;
Later in her appearance in London, Michelle Obama went on to say that living through Trump&#8217;s presidency is like living through slavery or the Holocaust.
&#8220;This may feel like a dark chapter but any story has its highs and lows but it continues. Yes, we are in a low but we have been lower. We have had tougher times, we have had more to fear. We have lived through slavery, the Holocaust and segregation,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;We have always come out at the other end &#8212; better and stronger. We are moving in a direction of diversity and inclusion. No one ever said it would be easy. We are just in the throes of the uneasy path of change.&#8221;

Michelle Obama Takes Swipe At Single Fathers: America Under Trump Is Like ‘Living With Divorced Dad’

Stephen Colbert

After evidence came to light that the former chief of staff of Michelle Obama had attempted to intervene on behalf of the Smollett family to get the investigation turned over to the FBI, the ex-aid, prominent Chicago attorney Tina Tchen, has now gone on the record to confirm that she did contact the state&#8217;s attorney whose office eventually let Smollett off the hook.
In a statement to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/27/jussie-smollett-investigation-ex-michelle-obama-aide-tina-tchen/3294546002/">USA Today</a> on Wednesday, Tchen addressed reports that she had emailed Cook County State&#8217;s Attorney Kim Foxx to request on behalf of the Smolletts that the investigation be taken out of the hands of the Chicago Police Department, which would eventually conclude that Smollett had orchestrated an alleged &#8220;hoax&#8221; hate crime against himself.
&#8220;I know members of the Smollett family based on prior work together,&#8221; Tchen said in the statement Wednesday. &#8220;Shortly after Mr. Smollett reported he was attacked, as a family friend, I contacted Cook County State&#8217;s Attorney Kim Foxx, who I also know from prior work together. My sole activity was to put the chief prosecutor in the case in touch with an alleged victim&#8217;s family who had concerns about how the investigation was being characterized in public.&#8221;
After Tchen contacted Foxx to voice the Smollett family&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/44719/former-michelle-obama-chief-staff-pushed-get-james-barrett">concerns</a>&#8221; about how the Chicago police were handling the case, Foxx replied in a February 1 email: &#8220;Spoke to the Superintendent [Eddie] Johnson. I convinced him to reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation.&#8221;
&#8220;Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask,&#8221; Foxx told a Smollett family member whose name was redacted from released court documents. &#8220;Trying to figure out logistics. I&#8217;ll keep you posted.&#8221;
&#8220;Omg this would be a huge victory,&#8221; the relative replied.
&#8220;I make no guarantees, but I&#8217;m trying,&#8221; responded Foxx.
Foxx later told the Chicago Sun-Times that the Smollett family was concerned about leaks to the media and believed the FBI would keep a &#8220;tighter lid on the information.&#8221;
Though Foxx said she recused herself from the case because of her contact with Tchen and the Smollett family, it was revealed this week that she did not in fact do so. As the Daily Wire&#8217;s Emily Zanotti reported, Foxx was forced to admit an &#8220;egregious error&#8221; late Wednesday, &#8220;after National District Attorney&#8217;s Association issued a scathing letter rebuking Foxx&#8217;s office for their conduct during the Smollett affair&#8221;:
<blockquote>
Among their complaints, a prosecutor who recuses herself from a case should pull her entire staff from involvement in that case and appoint a &#8220;special prosecutor,&#8221; or she risks tainting the entire operation with her conflict of interest.
It turns out that, although Foxx claimed to have &#8220;recused&#8221; herself from the Smollett case over concerns that she&#8217;d communicated with a member of Smollett&#8217;s family, she never made her recusal official. The term was used &#8220;colloquially&#8221; rather than &#8220;legally,&#8221; her office <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-met-jussie-smollett-kim-foxx-kass-20190327-story.html">told Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass</a>.
</blockquote>
Related: 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45247/foxx-fights-back-cook-county-prosecutor-insists-emily-zanotti">Foxx Fights Back: Cook County Prosecutor Insists Sealing Records Was &#8216;Unintentional,&#8217; Admits She Didn&#8217;t Recuse Herself From Smollett Case</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45263/breaking-chicago-sends-letter-smollett-demanding-ryan-saavedra">Chicago Sends Bill To Smollett Demanding Payment For Alleged Hate Crime Hoax Investigation</a>

Michelle Obama&#8217;s Ex-Chief Of Staff Admits She Did Try To Intervene In Smollett Investigation

Chicago

Hate Crime

Tina Tchen, who was former First Lady Michelle Obama&#8217;s chief of staff, has been in the news quite a bit lately, mostly for her role in getting charges dropped against &#8220;Empire&#8221; actor Jussie Smollett.
While Chicago police were still investigating an alleged hate crime against Smollett and considering him a victim, Tchen reached out to the Cook County State Attorney&#8217;s Office asking for the investigation to be handed over to the FBI.
&#8220;I wanted to give you a call on behalf of Jussie Smollett and family who I know. They have concerns about the investigation,&#8221; Tchen sent <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/records-former-michelle-obama-aide-smollett-relative-reached-out-to-kim-foxx/">in a text message</a> to Cook County State&#8217;s Attorney Kim Foxx on February 1.
Foxx emailed Tchen that same day to say, &#8220;Spoke to the Superintendent [Eddie] Johnson&#8221; and that she had &#8220;convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation.&#8221;
Foxx <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44719/former-michelle-obama-chief-staff-pushed-get-james-barrett">also texted a relative of Smollett</a> to say the same.
&#8220;Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask,&#8221; Foxx texted. &#8220;Trying to figure out logistics. I&#8217;ll keep you posted.&#8221;
Smollett&#8217;s relative responded by saying: &#8220;Omg this would be a huge victory.&#8221;
Foxx replied that she could &#8220;make no guarantees, but I&#8217;m trying.&#8221;
Foxx recused herself from the case before Smollett was charged for allegedly concocting the hate crime against himself. He had claimed two white men wearing Make America Great Again hats physically assaulted him at 2 a.m. in Chicago during a polar vortex while yelling &#8220;This is MAGA country.&#8221; It turns out the two men were of Nigerian dissent, wore plain red hats, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43907/heres-what-jussie-smollett-wrote-3500-checks-memo-amanda-prestigiacomo">had been paid by Smollett</a> for a &#8220;5 week Nutrition/Workout program&#8221; just before the alleged attack. The two men were seen buying supplies on surveillance video.
Last week, Chicago&#8217;s Fraternal Order of Police <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44859/chicago-police-union-want-federal-investigation-emily-zanotti">requested a federal investigation</a> into Foxx&#8217;s interference in the case.
Tchen&#8217;s name is not only appearing in reports about helping steer the Smollett investigation. She is also getting news coverage as the person hired to investigate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/45127/inside-southern-poverty-law-centers-sexism-racism-ashe-schow">alleged racism and sexism within the Southern Poverty Law Center</a>. Earlier this month, the center&#8217;s co-founder, Morris Dees, was fired. The president of the organization also recently resigned amid complaints from employees that women staffers were sexually harassed by Dees and that the organization&#8217;s white leadership did not adequately advance minority staffers.
In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44675/southern-poverty-law-center-fires-founder-ashe-schow">a statement</a> announcing Dees&#8217; firing, then-president Richard Cohen said the center had hired &#8220;an outside organization to conduct a comprehensive assessment of our internal climate and workplace practices, to ensure that our talented staff is working in the environment that they deserve &#8211; one in which all voices are heard and all staff members are respected.&#8221;
The person hired to lead this investigation was Tchen. The Chicago-based attorney and co-founder of the Times Up Legal Defense Fund (part of the MeToo movement), will be assessing the SPLC&#8217;s workplace culture.
In a statement to The New York Times, the SPLC&#8217;s board chairman, Bryan Fair, said the allegations and departures were &#8220;an eye-opening reminder that the walk toward justice must sometimes start at your own front door, and force you to look at your past so you can improve your future.&#8221;

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