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<\/a>FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA. (SAUL LOEB\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/i><\/b>With fewer than 40 days remaining as first lady, Michelle Obama is continuing to reflect on the legacy she and President Obama will leave after having occupied the White House for the last eight years. In a new interview with Oprah Winfrey, the first lady addressed the election outcome and suggested that the U.S. is entering a time of hopelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are feeling what not having hope feels like,\u201d Obama told Winfrey in response to a question about whether President Obama had achieved the \u201chope and change\u201d he promised while campaigning in 2008. As she often did while campaigning for Hillary Clinton, she didn\u2019t mention President-elect Donald Trump by name. But she alluded to the contrast many in the country are feeling since he won the election last month. \u201cWe feel the difference now,\u201d she said, noting that her husband had succeeded in keeping his campaign promise of fostering hope. \u201cHope is necessary. It\u2019s a necessary concept,\u201d she elaborated. \u201cAnd Barack didn\u2019t just talk about hope because he thought it was a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believed that \u2026 what else do you have if you don\u2019t have hope? What do you give your kids if you can\u2019t give them hope?\u201d<\/p>\n
Those are philosophical questions that the nation will no doubt begin to grapple with in earnest over the coming months. And they\u2019re not the first contemplative remarks the first lady, who has earned a special place in Americans\u2019 hearts, has made recently. Last week, she reportedly left White House staffers in tears<\/a> after a heartfelt thank you speech at a holiday party. And in an interview that appears in the December issue of Vogue<\/a>, she expressed mixed feelings about leaving the White House, ultimately concluding, \u201cI\u2019m going to miss waking up to this, having access to this anytime I want. But on the flip side \u2026 \u00a0it\u2019s time.\u201d Watch a portion of her interview with Oprah Winfrey below.<\/p>\n