Michelle Obama returns to the political spotlight for the final sprint of the 2024 campaign

Michelle Obama is regaining her political star power to boost support for the vice president Kamala Harris in the final sprint of the 2024 elections.

In her first campaign appearance with Harris, the former first lady added a new argument to the fight for reproductive health care, issuing a stark but passionate warning to men urging them not to allow women to become “collateral damage of his wrath.”

“I ask you all, from the depths of my being, to take our lives seriously,” he said at a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday night.

Obama repeated that exact message in a opinion article published by New York Times on Monday, and is due back on the campaign trail Tuesday to headline a rally in battleground Georgia with his own nonprofit When We All Vote, which aims to engage young voters.

Obama has made clear his distaste for partisan politics, but he came out set the stage for Harris’ historic nomination at the Democratic National Convention this summer.

After a long applause that reflects the immense popularity she commands not only within the party but throughout the country, the former first lady lifted Vice President Harris as she trashed Donald Trump.

The comments marked a departure from his once-famous political slogan: “When they go down, we go up.”

That theme continued in Michigan over the weekend, when Obama described Harris as “someone with the strength of heart to lead our country to a better day” and Trump as unfit for the White House.

“In any other profession or field, Trump’s criminal record and amoral character would be shameful, disgraceful and disqualifying,” he said.

He then exposed what he considered a double standard in this race.

“I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little frustrated that some of us choose to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn,” she said. “I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we’re indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental deterioration, his history as a convicted felon, a known slumlord, a predator found responsible for sexual abuse.”

“All this,” Obama continued, “while separating Kamala’s answers from interviews she doesn’t even have the courage to do.”

Vice President Harris was asked Monday about Obama’s comments and whether she felt she needed to be held to a higher standard than Trump.

“My role and responsibility in running for president of the United States is to make my case to the American people and earn their support, and that is why I spend time traveling the country to listen to people and talk to them about my plans “Harris responded.

a new ABC News/Ipsos poll found that Harris regained a slight national poll lead over Trump, 51-47%. But the two remain tied in the battleground states that will likely determine the election winner.

Polls also show a stark gender divide, with Trump leading among male voters and Harris holding an advantage among women. Black voters and younger voters are also considered key voting blocs this cycle.

Obama’s appeal to men in her speech last weekend comes after her husband, former President Barack Obama, a key surrogate for Harris, expressed his own frustration with black men who, he said, did not want to vote for Harris because she is a woman.

The former first lady, striking a slightly different tone, urged men to think about the impact their votes could have on the women in their lives.

“Please let us not put our lives in the hands of politicians, mostly men, who have no idea or don’t care what we as women are going through, who do not fully understand the wide-ranging health implications of their policies. will have on our health outcomes,” he said in Michigan.

Their focus Tuesday will be on turning out first-time voters and students, according to When We All Vote, the nonpartisan civic group founded by Obama that has been working to register voters. The rally he will lead comes just before early voting ends in Georgia.

ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.