Michelle Obama said she "aches for our country" after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol (open in new tab) on Wednesday, accusing the incumbent president of being "childish and stupid" and comparing the atrocities committed by law enforcement against peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters to Trump supporters' s gentle treatment of the rioters, comparing it to the "peaceful treatment of the rioters.

"I woke up yesterday elated by the news of Rev. Raphael Warnock's election victory (open in new tab)," Obama said at the beginning of a statement shared on social media. 'But in just a few hours, my heart fell harder and faster than I can remember. Like many of you, I watched organized, violent, and angry gangs besiege the U.S. Capitol building because they lost the election.

"That day," she continued, "was the day that a childish and unpatriotic president, unable to handle the truth of his own failure, got his wish. [Questions about the future, security, extremism, propaganda, etc. But there is one question that just can't be wiped away: what if the rioters had looked like the people who attend Ebenezer Baptist Church every Sunday? Obama writes.

"I think we all know the answer. The Black Lives Matter protests this summer were by far the most peaceful movement, the largest demonstration in our nation's history, bringing together people of all races and classes and urging millions of people to rethink their assumptions and actions. Nevertheless, day after day, night after night, peaceful protesters in various cities were attacked by armed forces. We saw cracked skulls, mass arrests, and police forces pepper-spraying peaceful demonstrations for presidential photo ops. [And for those who call us unpatriotic for just silently kneeling and protesting and wonder why we need to remind them that black lives matter, yesterday made it painfully clear that certain Americans are, in fact, allowed to deny the flag and national symbols. They just have to look at it the right way," the former first lady continued.

"All I know is that now is the time for true patriotism," Obama wrote, calling for Trump voters to "forcefully reprimand" him and for social media platforms to permanently ban Trump from their platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter temporarily locked his account after the Capitol Hill break-in (opens in new tab), and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg later banned Trump from Facebook's platform (opens in new tab) until the end of his term (opens new tab).

"If there is any hope of improving this country, now is the time for swift and serious consequences for the leadership failures that led to yesterday's humiliation."

President Obama said he found hope in the victories of Reverend Warnock and John Ossoff (opens in new tab) in the Georgia runoff election, saying, "All Americans, especially those who disagree with them, are asking the new Congress, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, to give us I pray that they will give us a chance to do better," he added.

"But make no mistake: the job of putting America back together, of really fixing what is broken, is not the job of individual politicians or political parties," Obama concluded. 'It is up to each of us to do our part. To reach out. To listen. And to hold fast to the truths and values that have always moved this country forward. It will be an uncomfortable and sometimes painful process. But if we enter that process with honesty and unwavering love of our country, we can finally begin to heal."

For the full text of President Obama's statement, click here. (opens in new tab) [19].