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In Boston, Q & A session with Michelle Obama
Riffs on women, ACA, Beyonce
By Dialynn Dwyer
Boston.com staff

Former first lady Michelle Obama criticized women who voted for President Trump during a wide-ranging conversation in Boston Wednesday that addressed life in the White House, her forthcoming book, and the challenges of discrimination that women face.

“Any woman who voted against Hillary Clinton voted against their own voice,’’ Obama told the audience during a question-and-answer session with author Roxane Gay at Inbound, a marketing conference that has attracted an assortment of famous speakers this week.

Obama maintained that she and former president Barack Obama still want Trump to be successful.

She also countered critics of the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans have tried repeatedly — and unsuccessfully — to repeal.

“The Affordable Care Act isn’t Barack’s legacy,’’ she said. “It’s the country’s legacy.’’

Obama said she doesn’t miss being in the White House, though she does miss the “people and the work.’’ The process taught her that she can do anything, she told the audience.

“It was like being shot out of a cannon . . . with a blindfold and the spotlight on you,’’ she said when asked what it was like to be first lady.

Obama said she’s amazed to think that her daughters, Malia and Sasha, spent their most formative years living in the White House. She said they’re typical teenagers who don’t want to do much with their parents.

“ ‘Do you want to come down and meet Paul McCartney?’ ‘No Ma, no,’ ’’ she joked, describing a typical conversation with her kids.

To her disbelief, her daughters wanted to have a sleepover on their final night in the White House.

“ ‘The Trumps are coming!’ ’’ she recalled telling them.

Obama said she’s working on a book about believing in one’s most authentic self. It will include stories about her childhood: “How did that little girl get to be here?’’

She offered advice for people struggling to find their own voices.

“How many of us have sat in a classroom somewhere and watched a man go on and on and on?’’ she asked the women in the audience.

The conversation took a lighter turn at the end when she was asked about her favorite song on Beyonce’s “Lemonade’’ album, to which she replied, “All of them.’’

But, she added, “Love Drought’’ is the song she played “over and over.’’