Former President Barack Obama posted a tribute on Instagram to his wife, Michelle Obama, on Sunday for her 57th birthday.
Obama celebrated his wife with a former photo of Michelle and a caption that read, "Happy birthday to my love, my partner, and my best friend. Every moment with you is a blessing. Love you, Miche."
Obama's tribute rendered over 3.7 million likes on Instagram with over 54,000 comments. Among those to comment was Michelle herself who responded with a red heart and "kiss-blowing" emoticons.
The former first lady also posted on her birthday to her personal Instagram account with black and white selfie. Her caption read, "Thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes! I know this past year has been difficult for us all on so many levels, so i just hope you are all taking care of yourselves and finding joy in the smallest moments. Love you all. 💕"
Michelle's post has gained over 3.8 million likes and over 92,000 comments over the past three days.
Michelle called attention on Twitter earlier this month to the racial disparities she said were present during the U.S. Capitol riots.
The former first lady tweeted a statement, saying that after she woke up to news of Rev. Raphael Warnock's election victory in Georgia Wednesday, her "heart had fallen harder and faster" than she could remember.
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"Like all of you, I watched as a gang -- organized, violent and mad they'd lost an election -- laid siege to the United States Capitol. They set up gallows. They proudly waved the traitorous flag of the Confederacy through the halls. They desecrated the center of American government," Michelle wrote.
Michelle compared the January riots in Washington to that of the Black Lives Matter protests over the summer, asking if the rioters would have been treated the same way by police had they "looked like the folks who go to Ebenezer Baptist Church every Sunday."
"Yesterday made it painfully clear that certain Americans are, in fact, allowed to denigrate the flag and symbols of our nation. They've just got to look the right way," Michelle wrote.
She finished her statement saying that it's up to each individual American to repair what has been broken by reaching out and listening to one another.
"It will be an uncomfortable, sometimes painful process. But if we enter into it with an honest and unwavering love to our country, then maybe we can finally start to heal," Michelle wrote.
Calling it a “moment of great dishonor and shame for our nation,” former President Obama called on Republican lawmakers one day prior to speak out against President Donald Trump after a group of his supporters stormed the United States Capitol.
Obama issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the actions of the rioters are the “consequences” of the rhetoric used by Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, and said that Republicans and Democrats must work together to “restore a common purpose to our politics.”
On Wednesday, thousands of angry supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in a chaotic protest aimed at thwarting a peaceful transfer of power, forcing lawmakers to be rushed from the building and interrupting challenges to Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
Both law enforcement and Trump supporters deployed chemical irritants during the hours-long occupation of the complex before it was cleared Wednesday evening.
Four people died, one of them a woman from San Diego who was shot and killed inside the Capitol. Three other people died after suffering “medical emergencies” related to the breach, said Robert Contee, chief of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department.
D.C. police said Thursday that 68 people were arrested, with 25 of those for curfew violations and unlawful entry on the Capitol grounds. Another eight were arrested for curfew violations near the Capitol, D.C. police said.
Capitol police said 14 were arrested, most for unlawful entry, including a man from Illinois.
