Michelle Obama Said "It Is What It Is" About Trump During The Democratic National Convention And People Felt It

"Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country ... He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is."

Michelle Obama: "It is what it is."

Michelle Obama delivered a poignant speech at the end of the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday.

You can read the full transcript here, but one simple phrase seemed to have perfectly captured a collective vibe — and, really, there is no better word for it. After calling Donald Trump the "wrong president for our country" and listing off a few reasons why, the former first lady then said, plainly, "it is what it is."

President Donald Trump used the exact same phrase earlier this month when he was asked during an interview with Axios about the coronavirus death toll in the US.

"A thousand Americans are dying a day," interviewer Jonathan Swan said.

"They are dying. That's true. And you — it is what it is," Trump responded. "But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control as much as you can control it."

Obama's use of the line caught people off guard because it was not the kind of canned political discourse we typically expect to hear. Immediately, people reacted strongly to it online. But specifically on Black Twitter, it seemed to resonate a phrase Black Americans have been using, and/or how many of them have been feeling, for some time.

"It is what it is." - Ancient Black proverb

"So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can: Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country," Obama said. "He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.

"It is what it is."

The line, which generally is a cheeky way to express despondency about something, poetically spoke for itself. And became trending on its own.

When #MichelleObama said, “It is what it is,” I felt that.

People thought it was a perfectly poignant way to shade the sitting president — and delivered even more impeccably.

It’s the pause after “it is what it is” for me.

"It is what it is" might be the sickest burn in political history.

The line stood out so much it even inspired jokes about first lady Melania Trump possibly copying it for the Republican National Convention next week.

Melania is taking notes, I bet at the #RNC she’ll be like “It is What It Should Be”


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