Michelle and Barack Obama reached out yesterday and congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris. They both published their thoughts on social media. The difference in the tone of the two messages was impossible to miss.

Barack Obama posted a fairly standard congratulatory message. Obama chose Biden as his running mate, after all. Obama is said to have encouraged Kamala Harris to run for president herself. So, a tweet of nice words wasn’t surprising. He did go the route of saying that our democracy is at risk but Obama’s hyperbole is not out of the ordinary.

Congratulations to my friends, @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris — our next President and Vice President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/febgqxUi1y

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 7, 2020

Michelle Obama’s message was very different. In order to deliver her kudos to the Democrat ticket and call for unity, she trashed Republican voters. She began by congratulating “my friend Joe Biden” and “our first Black and Indian-American woman Vice President” and said they “are headed to restore some dignity, competence, and heart at the White House.” That was just the first sentence. Then she went on to call for unity because nothing says unity more than trashing the previous administration, right?

I’m beyond thrilled that my friend @JoeBiden and our first Black and Indian-American woman Vice President, @KamalaHarris, are headed to restore some dignity, competence, and heart at the White House. Our country sorely needs it. pic.twitter.com/yXqQ3tYRoa

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) November 7, 2020

She continued along the same lines by thanking everyone who participated in the election process.

Thank you to all of you who poured every ounce of your hope and determination into this democracy over these past four years, registering voters, getting them to the polls, keeping folks informed. More votes were cast in this election than ever before. It’s because of you.

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) November 7, 2020

After telling everyone to remember to step back and breath and reminding them that winning one election is never enough, her mask slipped. She trashed Trump voters as she reminded Biden voters to find what unites Americans. “Let’s remember that tens of millions of people voted for the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division.” You can’t make this stuff up.

Let’s remember that tens of millions of people voted for the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos, and division. We’ve got a lot of work to do to reach out to these folks in the years ahead and connect with them on what unites us.

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) November 7, 2020

She continued by asking that everyone stay engaged and work for the two Democrats in run-offs for Senate seats in Georgia.

The former president and first lady have gone above and beyond in participating in politics since they left the White House. Traditionally, when a president leaves office, he and his wife go off and have a life outside of the day to day politics. The Obamas didn’t do that. The Obamas didn’t hold up a lot of traditional behavior in the White House but are so lacking in self-awareness that they don’t realize that their behavior ushered in President Trump. The divisions and ugliness that they like to blame Trump for all began during the Obama administration. Obama was not concerned about unity when he rammed through legislation on strict party-line votes – most noticeably Obamacare.

Instead of keeping their criticism of the president to themselves, they take their ugliness out on Republican voters. It is the same as when Hillary Clinton called Trump voters deplorable. Joe Biden did the same as he campaigned. He called Trump voters ugly and chumps. He ran as Mr. Civility but during the debates, we heard him call the sitting president a clown and told him to shut up. Civility for thee but not for me. Say what you will about Trump’s demeanor – he didn’t ever slam Democrat voters, instead, he asked them to vote for him.

Democrats won back the White House but it wasn’t because of enthusiasm for Sleepy Joe. It was an anti-Trump vote. If you saw some of the celebrations in the streets yesterday, you saw lots of anti-Trump signs and very little of Biden support, other than Biden campaign signs. The election wasn’t about a desire for more traditional leadership. It was all about ousting the president. Biden’s voters were the least enthusiastic voters I think I’ve ever seen in the Democrat Party.

The Biden message throughout the campaign was that he was running to restore the soul of the country. This assumes that Trump supporters are people without souls. If Biden is so sincere in being a president for all Americans, he has a strange way of showing that. His words don’t match his actions. He is, after all, a career politician and a long-time member of The Swamp. He will promise everything to get elected and end up delivering very little. His own career in the Senate proves that.

Hillary Clinton could not offer her best wishes to Biden and Kamala without slamming Trump. As a former first lady, she should have just left out the hatred for Trump but we all know that that is never going to happen. Trump permanently broke Hillary Clinton as he did so many others.

The voters have spoken, and they have chosen @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris to be our next president and vice president.

It's a history-making ticket, a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen. Onward, together. pic.twitter.com/YlDY9TJONs

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 7, 2020

When Biden delivered his speech, he appealed to Trump voters and encouraged his supporters to reach out and find what unites us. He references the “harsh rhetoric” as though it was one-sided.

“Let’s give each other a chance, it’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again. To make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as enemies. They are not our enemies, they are Americans,” Biden said, quoting Ecclesiastes 3:3, a Bible verse that urges there is a “time to heal.”

“It’s time for our better angels to prevail. At our best, America is a beacon for the globe, we will lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example,” Biden continued.

It will take a long time for Trump voters to put aside their disappointment. Biden’s words now will fall on deaf ears. While he wants to lead by example, he has played a part in the divisions in this country. Trump voters numbered 70 million in this election. That is a lot of people to make nice with. Biden, though he claims otherwise, has no mandate. The nation is as deeply divided as it has been. Those divisions didn’t begin with Trump’s election. They festered through many years and began escalating with the contentious election of George W. Bush. Remember Democrats boycotting his inauguration? That kind of vitriol continued through the Obama years and grew. The Democrats and anti-Trumpers never accepted the election of Trump, tried to oust him from office through coup-like behavior including impeachment. I don’t think a new wave of unity and kumbaya is coming any time soon.