--- ---  # Read Michelle Obama's First Campaign Trail Speech for Hillary Clinton  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Sep 17, 2016 1:53 PM UTC  First Lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at The Johnson Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., on Sept. 16, 2016. First Lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at The Johnson Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., on Sept. 16, 2016.The Washington Post/Getty Images  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: --- > “” --- Michelle Obama Campaigns for Hillary Clinton: Transcript ```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":"2026-02-23T00:40:01.243Z","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 topic","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"}}]}] ```