Former US First Lady Michelle Obama has lashed out at female voters who backed President Donald Trump.
“Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice,” she said.
Mrs Obama, who has stayed largely out of the political fray since leaving the White House, made the remark at a Boston conference. She reflected on the 2016 election as an example of staying true to her “authentic self”.
“Quite frankly, we saw this in this election. As far as I’m concerned, any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice,” Mrs Obama said on Wednesday during a question-and-answer session at Inbound, a marketing and sales conference in Boston.
She continued that many Americans decided last November that Mr Trump’s “voice is more true to me”.
Mrs Obama insisted, however, that she wanted Mr Trump to succeed.
“We want the sitting president to be successful because we live in this country,” she said. “He is our commander in chief, he was voted in.”
Just 54% of women voted for Mrs Clinton, who lost to Mr Trump last year, while 52% of white women voted for her Republican opponent.
“Well, to me that just says, you don’t like your voice. You like the thing you’re told to like,” she said of Mr Trump.
Mrs Obama and her husband, former President Barack Obama, campaigned for Mrs Clinton during last year’s election.