First Lady Pool Reports of July 15, 2022

FLOTUS Andover Pool Report

Good evening,

My name is Chris Van Buskirk, a reporter with MassLive, and I am your FLOTUS pooler this eveningfor the DNC fundraiser in Andover, Massachusetts.

FLOTUS arrived at the residence of Ashraf and Shamim Dahod at 4:40 p.m. EST for a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. The multi-story house is located at the end of a cul-de-sac in Andover, Massachusetts, a town about 30 minutes to the north of Boston (without traffic). Guests were screened for COVID via a rapid antigen test before they were admitted into the house.

Pooler was located in the basement of the house at the time of FLOTUS arrival, per White House instructions. Your pooler was given a 10-minute arrival warning at 4:39 p.m. EST.

The living room where FLOTUS gave remarks was painted white with both beige couches and brown chairs for attendees to sit in. Prior to remarks, U.S. Sen. Markey took photos with attendees. FLOTUS participated in a photo line starting at 4:58 p.m. EST. U.S. Congresswoman Pressley was not in attendance, per White House.

FLOTUS entered the living room at 5:09 p.m. ESTwith the homeowners. Ashraf Dahod began speakingat 5:10 p.m. EST.

Below is a summary of remarks. Direct quotes are in quotation marks and have been checked against a recording.

SUMMARY: Ashraf Dahod said, this is a whole room full of immigrants. As you all know, there have been waves of immigrants to the United States. Every wave, there was something that pushed them to come to the U.S., there was a wave of Chinese to build the railroads. The push for us was because of the guidance and the preachings of the holiness, it was education. We came here highly educated or to get advanced education. The bridge for us has been education. It is a unique honor that we have our guest of honor, Dr. Jill Biden, who is an ardent educator and who is not only performing all of her official duties but is pursuing her passion full time. It is an honor to have you with an emphasis on education.

FLOTUS started speaking at 5:11 p.m. FLOTUS asked people standing in the back of the room to come closer to the podium she was speaking at.

FLOTUS continued, as I walked in and I was signing a couple of things at the desk, there was a book that said best nana ever. So I am nana in my family and so I thought that I would have to fight for that title but as it turns out, it is Ashraf who is the nana. So I learned something new today. I appreciate you. It is an honor for me to come here today and to see members of this community. I do not think I have met anyone from your community before. I thank you for asking me to come here. And for all of you to come and show up on a Thursday night. This day has been, I have done a lot of events. I want to say that this is, really for me, a really lovely way to end my day.

(The hosts said FLOTUS was referring and speaking to members of the Dawoodi Bhora sect of Shia Islam. There are more than 5,000 families throughout the U.S, per the hosts)

"I have gotten a sense of who you are and what you value, and certainly you value education, which of course my whole life has been education."

I have been teaching, this year was 38 years. And just that you value spirituality, and I think that is what brings you intellect and that is what brings all of you here together. I can see how close-knit you are. I was reading an NYT piece last Sunday. You have the Boston Globe up here. You read the NYT? So they had a piece in the Sunday Review and it was about courage, did anyone read it? In it, they asked Americans, 10 of them, they said how do you define bravery and what does it mean to have courage as a politician. And it was interesting to see how they defined courage and bravery. And I was thinking about it, they named several people. And I didn't agree with all of their choices but that is the beauty of it and they described the 10 members of the community who were giving their opinions. So I want you to think, think in your own minds, how do you define political courage because in these days, we are up against so much and we have to have political courage in our leaders and so I was thinking of my own husband because he is a politician, a statesman, in the best sense of the word.

I hate how nowadays people say don't go into politics. It used to be, Ed I'm sure, people wanted to be statesmen and politicians and stateswomen. So when I was thinking of Joe's political courage, I thought about how when he was a senator, he saw women who had been abused and he spoke to them, and then he wrote the Violence Against Women Act. He gave brave women a chance to testify. I thought, that is courage and then he stood up to the NRA he wrote the arms bill, the ban against, the weapons bill. Then it wasn't renewed so he stood up, he saw, why in the world would anyone need a machine gun, an AR15. That took, I thought, political courage and so he stood up to the NRA.

"Once again, he's trying and I know it's just a little bit, this gun bill that we've, that has been passed, but it's progress. Not probably as much as we all would want. I mean, we have to have an assault weapons ban but we've got to, you know, keep moving forward. We can't give up."

When we were in Iowa, where I feel like I have spent half my life, we came in fourth and then we went to New Hampshire, and then we came in fifth and it was like wow, it was sort of a punch to the gut, it wasn't what we expected. But then I said to Joe, I just feel Joe you are going to win, and he kept going. And really, if you think about it, in those early days, we started out with 21 candidates and out of all those candidates, he persevered and I thought you know what, that takes courage. There are so many moments like that that I feel have defined his career. He stands up for his convictions, and he fights for what he believes, which is why I thank all of you as I get to spend a little bit of time with all of you and hear what you believe in and what your values are. I think he fights for what he believes in.

"That's what we have to continue to do. Especially now, in these times that are so hard, you know, with what we've been dealing with, with mental illness and gun violence and you know, the environment and just so many things, right, that we just didn't have to deal with when you came to this country in 1970."

Now that was a tumultuous time too if you remember, but there are so many things that we are up against now. So after I was reading the Sunday paper, I said to Joe, I said what do you think is the bravest thing you've ever done?

"And he looked me in the eye, and he said, marrying you."

I don't know whether that was a positive comment or a negative comment.

"I think the only choice we have now is to find our courage and to move forward for those things, for those values, for those beliefs that we believe in, not only in your community, as Americans as human beings, you know, to move forward with kindness and gentleness and love."

I think that is what matters most in life with our relationships with other people and countries.

I want to thank you once again for having me here in your home, especially bringing your mom. I love that. Now I would like to spend some time getting to know you.

FLOTUS ended her remarks at 5:22 p.m. EST and left the residence at 5:57 p.m. EST.