KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Michelle Obama did not mince words.

The former first lady hit the campaign trail on Saturday, opening for Vice President Kamala Harris in Kalamazoo on the first day of early voting in Michigan where the Democratic presidential candidate is deadlocked with Trump. During the appearance, Obama warned about a second Trump term.

"I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn," Obama said. "We expect her to be intelligent and articulate, to have a clear set of policies, to never show too much anger, to prove time and a time again that she belongs. But for Trump, we expect nothing at all, no understanding of policy, no ability to put together a coherent argument, no honesty, no decency, no morals."

Obama's pithy remarks in support of Harris were the most forceful of any Democratic figure, including her husband, who has campaigned for the sitting vice president as Harris makes her closing argument against Trump.

'This is someone who understands you'

Harris has targeted Detroit with her campaign efforts and held an event with former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, aimed at winning over anti-Trump Republicans in a suburb of the city earlier in the week.

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On Saturday, she and Obama went after a decidedly different crowd: apathetic voters who say they don't know enough about Harris or her background.

"Michigan, do not buy into the lie that we do not know who Kamala is or what she stands for," Obama said. "This is someone who understands you, all of you, someone from a middle-class family raised mostly by her mom."

Obama delivered a primetime speech at the Democratic National Convention but had not spoken at a campaign rally in almost eight years. "I haven’t done this in such a long time," Obama said as she warmed up.

Trump won in 2016, she said, because he got a pass. "Let us not forget how badly that worked out for all of us."

Harris is filling arenas, putting herself out there and facing down her critics, Obama said.

"Unlike her opponent, she's not ducking interviews or cowering in safe spaces only with fawning audiences," she added. "No, she's showing us what a sane, stable leader looks like."

The former first lady touched on a message Harris has delivered in the final days of the race about Trump's fitness for office. Harris, in her speech, blasted Trump as confused, unstable, and increasingly unhinged.

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Michelle Obama on Trump: 'Remember how woefully unprepared he was'

Before the rally began, attendees said Harris' argument was working. They listed democracy and, to a lesser extent, the economy and abortion rights as the most salient issue in the election.

"Democracy. We need to keep it," said Mike Simmons, 44, a Kalamazoo resident who works in manufacturing. "I don't think it survives, if we lose this election, honestly."

In her speech, Obama sought to remind voters why Trump was voted out of office. She sought to deflate the positive feelings some voters had about their financials when he was in office, saying that when the pandemic hit, he didn't know how to navigate the crisis.

"Remember how woefully unprepared he was, how he was sowing seeds of fear and confusion, endangering lives with his lies and ignorance, denigrating the doctors and scientists trying to help us," she said. "You want to talk about plans? Well, my husband left him a very detailed pandemic plan, and you know what he did? He ignored it."

Obama made a special plea to women to turn out in the election, especially those who live in households where they are ignored and undervalued. To them, she said that your vote is a "private matter."

"Regardless of the political views of your partner, you get to choose. You get to use your judgement, "she said. "Remember, women standing up for what is best for us, can make the difference in this election."

Messages taped onto the inside of the stalls in the women's restrooms at the arena drove home her point. "FROM WOMAN TO WOMAN" they read in all caps, "NO ONE will see your vote at the polls." They included a QR code that led to the homepage for the nonpartisan, nonprofit Vote.org.

The quiet Kamala voter

Sheri Millard, 62, a resident of Portage, Michigan, pointed to the sticky notes in the stalls.

"I do think there's a lot of people who are for Kamala who aren't willing to say it," Millard said.

Millard predicted that women would turn out for Harris in large numbers in the election and could vote for her without telling their husbands.

Obama talked at length about reproductive health in her speech, with her most pointed remarks directed at men. She explained to them, in grisly detail, what could happen to the women in their lives if they lose access to reproductive health care and warned of the impact that abortion restrictions could have on their sons.

"I don't want to be downer, ya'll," she said at one point. She implored them minutes later not to let their frustration about the lack of progress in society get in the way of voting for Harris.

In a play on their location, voters wore shirts that welcomed her to "Kamalazoo." Obama sent the crowd roaring when she referred to the city, largely Democratic, by changing it in her introduction to Harris' first name.

"I know you want to say Kamalazoo, I heard you," Harris later told a voter at the beginning of her remarks.

The vice president's speech largely focused on pointing out the differences between her platform and Trump.

As she has at past rallies, Harris told a supporter who interrupted with a message about Trump's criminal convictions that the matter would be up to the courts.

Harris was also interrupted midway through her remarks by a Pro-Palestinian protester.

"On the topic of Gaza, we must end that war," Harris said. "We must end the war and bring the hostages home. But now, I am speaking about 2024."

Harris returned to her message of turning the page on Trump.

Contributing: Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY