--- title: Michelle Obama Campaigns for Hillary Clinton: Transcript description: Michelle Obama on Friday made her first campaign stop for Hillary Clinton, criticizing Donald Trump without ever mentioning his name canonical: https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-17T13:53:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:47:12.895Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Michelle Obama's First Campaign Trail Speech for Hillary Clinton og:description: "There is only one person in this election we can trust" og:url: https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69acd17dd0eace1d/6988a67ecf40a89ff4c44da6/michelle-obama-clinton-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: First Lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Democratic candidate for President Hillary Clinton at The Johnson Center at George Mason University og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Michelle Obama's First Campaign Trail Speech for Hillary Clinton twitter:description: "There is only one person in this election we can trust" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69acd17dd0eace1d/6988a67ecf40a89ff4c44da6/michelle-obama-clinton-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Michelle Obama's First Campaign Trail Speech for Hillary Clinton > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4d8fe964-e44a-4de4-b24d-6c15ae74bd6a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Michelle Obama Hits the Trail for Hillary Clinton [Watch (HLS stream): Michelle Obama Hits the Trail for Hillary Clinton](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MqqqFJrf.m3u8) (1:51)  _Published 2016-09-16. The first lady has strong views on Donald Trump_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Sep 17, 2016 1:53 PM UTC The first lady has strong views on Donald Trump  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Sep 17, 2016 1:53 PM UTC [Michelle Obama](http://time.com/4423176/democratic-convention-michelle-obama-star/) on Friday made her [first campaign stop for Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4497557/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-birther/), praising the Democratic nominee and criticizing Donald Trump without ever mentioning his name. “As I’ve said before, the presidency doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are. And the same thing is true of a presidential campaign,” she said. “So, if a candidate is erratic and threatening, if a candidate traffics in prejudice, fears, and lies on the trail, if a candidate has no clear plans to implement their goals, if they disrespect their fellow citizens, including folks who make extraordinary sacrifices for our country — let me tell you, that is who they are. That is the kind of president they will be. Trust me.” It was a rare appearance on the campaign trail for the first lady, who delivered an [emotional speech](http://time.com/4421538/democratic-convention-michelle-obama-transcript/) at the Democratic National Convention about her support for Clinton. Here are Obama’s full remarks during the speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia: --- > “” --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Hey! [ APPLAUSE ] It's understandable that folks are feeling a little uncertain as we face the next transition. So the question is, for all of you and all of us, for the nation, is how do we sort through all the negativity? And the name calling in this election, and choose the right person to lead our country forward. We need someone, not with good judgement, but with superb judgement in their own right. We also need someone who is steady, and measured. Because when You're making life or death, war or peace decisions. A president can't just pop off. If a candidate has no clear plans to implement their goals, if they disrespect their fellow citizens, including folks who've made extraordinary sacrifices for our country. Let me tell you that is who they are, that is the kind of president they will be trust me. A candidate is not gonna suddenly change once they get into office, just the opposite in fact because the minute that individual takes that oath they are under the hottest Harshest light there is. It is excruciatingly clear that there is only one person in this election we can trust with those responsibilities. Only one person, with the qualifications and the temperament for that job and that is our friend Hillary Clinton. Let me tell you Hillary has the resilience that it takes to do this job. See cuz when she gets knocked down, she doesn't complain or cry foul. [ APPLAUSE ] No, she gets right back up. And she comes back stronger for the people who need her the most. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/"},"headline":"Read Michelle Obama's First Campaign Trail Speech for Hillary Clinton","datePublished":"2016-09-17T13:53:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T06:47:12.895Z","description":"\"It is excruciatingly clear that there is only one person in this election we can trust with those responsibilities\"","url":"https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Michelle Obama","transcripts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69acd17dd0eace1d/6988a67ecf40a89ff4c44da6/michelle-obama-clinton-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69acd17dd0eace1d/6988a67ecf40a89ff4c44da6/michelle-obama-clinton-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"First Lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Democratic candidate for President Hillary Clinton at The Johnson Center at George Mason University","caption":"First Lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Democratic candidate for President Hillary Clinton at The Johnson Center at George Mason University","creditText":"The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/","name":"Read Michelle Obama's First Campaign Trail Speech for Hillary Clinton"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Michelle Obama Hits the Trail for Hillary Clinton","description":"The first lady has strong views on Donald Trump","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MqqqFJrf/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-09-16T20:28:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MqqqFJrf.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/","duration":"PT1M51S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4498086/michelle-obama-hillary-clinton-campaign-trail-transcript/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```