Eric Swalwell rejects Michelle Obama’s call to ‘go high’ when dealing with GOP

Former First Lady Michelle Obama famously called for civility during the 2016 presidential campaign, declaring, “When they go low, we go high.”

However, one furious Democrat publicly rejected Mrs. Obama’s sentiments during an interview this past weekend. 

“We’re going to bury them below the Capitol”

According to Fox News, those remarks came on Saturday from California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell as he spoke with “CNN Newsroom,” host Omar Jimenez.

“When they go low, we’re going to bury them below the Capitol. That’s what we’re going to do, because this is about protecting democracy,” @RepSwalwell tells me on California’s redistricting efforts. pic.twitter.com/51w3xfx6Ir

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) August 16, 2025

At one point in their discussion, Jimenez asked Swalwell whether the Democratic response to Republican redistricting efforts in Texas could backfire.

“No, when they go low, we‘re going to bury them below the Capitol,” Swalwell responded. “That‘s what we‘re going to do, because this is about protecting democracy.”

Swalwell: Democrats “have paid the price for our weakness”

“And right now, as you see, D.C. has been militarized, and we were weak as Democrats,” he said in an apparent reference to President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital.

“We have paid the price for our weakness in the past, and we can‘t be so weak next time we have power,” the California lawmaker insisted.

“Gavin Newsom is making Donald Trump react to him with the lawsuits with this new map to match what‘s happening in Texas,” he continued.

“And the way I see it is, either we‘re on our heels, and the most vulnerable are on their heels reacting to Donald Trump, or he‘s on his heels reacting to us,” Swalwell added.

Mrs. Obama changed her tone in 2024 race

Fox News recalled how Mrs. Obama reiterated her 2016 message four years later while speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

“Going high means standing fierce against hatred while remembering that we are one nation under God, and if we want to survive, we’ve got to find a way to live together and work together across our differences,” she declared.

However, Politico pointed out during last year’s election race that the former first lady had adopted a starkly different tone when going after President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.

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