Michelle Obama has hit out at Donald Trump for spreading ‘racist lies’ about her husband which she says put her family in danger.

In a hard-hitting post on Instagram, the former First Lady said she had been ‘reflecting a lot’ on where she was four years ago, when Trump had won the 2016 election, beating Hillary Clinton by a ‘far closer margin’ than Joe Biden’s victory last week.

Mrs Obama said she was ‘hurt and disappointed’ but the ‘American people had spoken’ and she knew she had to welcome the Trump family – like George and Laura Bush had done for them – into the White House for the ‘seamless transition of power’.

She admitted how personally hard it was given the years Trump spent peddling the false ‘birther’ conspiracy theory about Barack Obama, which falsely claimed he was not born in the US.

She wrote: ‘I have to be honest and say that none of this was easy for me. Donald Trump had spread racist lies about my husband that had put my family in danger. That wasn’t something I was ready to forgive.

‘But I knew that, for the sake of our country, I had to find the strength and maturity to put my anger aside.

‘So I welcomed Melania Trump into the White House and talked with her about my experience, answering every question she had – from the heightened scrutiny that comes with being First Lady to what it’s like to raise kids in the White House.’

Continuing her criticism at Trump’s failure to concede defeat to Biden, Mrs Obama said ‘democracy is so much bigger than anybody’s ego.’

‘Our love of country requires us to respect the results of an election even when we don’t like them or wish it had gone differently,’ she added.

‘The presidency doesn’t belong to any one individual or any one party. To pretend that it does, to play along with these groundless conspiracy theories—whether for personal or political gain—is to put our country’s health and security in danger.

‘This isn’t a game. So I want to urge all Americans, especially our nation’s leaders, regardless of party, to honor the electoral process and do your part to encourage a smooth transition of power, just as sitting presidents have done throughout our history.’

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