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Former President Barack Obama mentions Michigan's Jim Harbaugh in town hall for marching in protest

Posted at 8:27 AM, Jun 04, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-04 08:27:35-04

Former President Barack Obama took part in a town hall on Wednesday night, supporting peaceful protesters and calling for police reform. He shared his first on-camera remarks since the killing of George Floyd.

Obama made a remark about Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, who marched Tuesday in a protest in Ann Arbor.


"You got Jim Harbaugh, the coach of Michigan football, marching today. That's not something that was happening five, six years ago. Although Jim I know, and he's been on the right side of this issue for quite some time," Obama said.

In 2016, Harbaugh was part of a group of Wolverines coaches invited to meet then President Obama at a Hillary Clinton rally on the Ann Arbor campus.

The following year, Harbaugh planned to officially ask Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama to serve as honorary captains for the Michigan football team.

"The president and the first lady both were as gracious as they could be," he said in 2017 . "They worked very hard to try to come. They're not going to be able to unfortunately make it this year."