What truly makes our country great is its diversity. I’ve seen that beauty in so many ways over the years. Whether we are born here or seek refuge here, there’s a place for us all. We must remember it’s not my America or your America. It’s our America.

Though she did not mention the president by name, Obama made an apparent reference to Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” writing, “what truly makes our country great is its diversity.”

Former first lady Michelle Obama posted a message on Twitter Friday urging Americans to remember that “there’s a place for us all” in the United States amid a furor over racist tweets sent by President Trump earlier this week.

Her tweet also echoed comments made by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who at a press conference earlier this week recalled a trip to Washington, D.C., with her father, who told her that as an American, the seat of government belonged to her.


“No matter what the president says, this country belongs to you,” Ocasio-Cortez said Monday. “It belongs to everyone.”

Obama’s message comes near the end of a week that saw Trump tweet that four freshmen Democratic congresswomen should go back to “the broken and crime infested places from which they came.” Trump has stood by his remarks in the uproar that followed, even as Democrats and a few Republicans denounced them as racist.

Trump defended his remarks again on Friday as he left the White House for his New Jersey golf resort.

“I don’t care if it’s good or bad politically,” he said. “I don’t care.”

Following a tradition set by their predecessors, the Obamas have largely steered clear of commenting on the Trump administration. Former president Obama has rarely called out the president by name, and has weighed in on policy issues just a handful of times. He retweeted his wife’s message on Friday but has not otherwise commented on the Trump tweets.

Christina Prignano can be reached at christina.prignano@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @cprignano.