Michelle Obama was angry Democratic voters ‘didn’t vote’ in 2016

Former first lady reflects on Donald Trump’s 2016 election win and legacy of her husband in upcoming documentary

Former first lady Michelle Obama has admitted that it felt “almost like a slap in the face” that Democratic voters did not turn out to defeat Donald Trump at the 2016 US election.

In comments made during her documentary, Becoming, which is released on Wednesday, Ms Obama added that the pain of Hillary Clinton’s loss to Mr Trump was made worse because black Americans had not voted.

“It takes some energy to go high, and we were exhausted from it. Because when you are the first black anything…,” she says in the film, whilst referencing anecdotes from her 2018 best selling book, also named Becoming.

Describing the “pain” of being on stage during the Trump inauguration, the former first lady admits: “A lot of our folks didn’t vote. It was almost like a slap in the face”.

“I understand the people who voted for Trump,” she continued. “The people who didn’t vote at all, the young people, the women, that’s when you think, man, people think this is a game.”

Ms Obama, commenting on the legacy of her husband, Barack Obama, also says in the film that she was frustrated every time traditional Democratic voters did not turn up to vote.

“Every midterm. Every time Barack didn’t get the Congress he needed, that was because our folks didn’t show up. After all that work, they just couldn’t be bothered to vote at all. That’s my trauma,” she added.

Ms Obama does not provide much direct criticism of her husband’s successor as US president, or the Republican party, during the 90-minute film.

The Obamas have maintained some distance when it comes to discussing Mr Trump’s presidency, and have previously refrained from making direct attacks against the White House incumbent.

In September 2018, President Obama said he had been silent since leaving office because he wanted to dedicate more time to his family, but also because there was a “wise American tradition of ex-presidents gracefully exiting the political stage”.

Ms Obama, meanwhile, has been more candid in her public appearances since leaving the White House.

Becoming will show the former first lady on her 2018 world book tour, whilst providing anecdotes about the 56-year-old’s upbringing in Chicago and life inside the White House.

“So little of who I am happened in those eight years. So much more of who I was happened before,” she explains in the film. “I am from the South Side of Chicago. That tells you as much about me as you need to know”.

Becoming was made by Higher Ground, the Obama-owned production company that won an Oscar earlier this year with its first film, American Factory.

Netflix announced the release of the documentary last Monday, describing the film as ‘an intimate look into the life’ of the former first lady.