Actress, producer, and pop singer Selena Gomez touted Michelle Obama at the first-ever, but sparsely attended, When We All Vote Culture of Democracy Summit, in L.A. on Monday.

“This work is incredibly important to me, especially when I think about the people who sacrificed so we can all exercise our right to vote,” Gomez said as she introduced the former first lady, according to PopSugar.

The one-time Disney star insisted that she and the summit aimed to urge more people to vote in American elections and to “to change the culture around voting and increase participation in each and every election.”

“None of our work at When We All Vote would be possible without our founder, former first lady Michelle Obama,” Gomez said as Obama prepared to take the stage. “She launched When We All Vote as a nonpartisan organization, because this work is bigger than one party, one election, or one moment. Our goal is to increase voter participation, especially among Black, brown, and young voters, and to change the culture around voting.” She went on to introduce Obama as “tonight’s Culture of Democracy Summit keynote speaker, and a friend.”

“I want to implore every American who cares about our democracy not to just get angry or dejected. I want you to get active,” Obama said during her address. “We’ve got to change the way we think about our democracy. And we’ve got to change the way we participate in it. Not just every two or four years, but as a routine part of the way we all live.”

“Every voice counts, and every vote matters,” Obama added.

When We All Vote Founder and Co-Chair Michelle Obama gives the Keynote Speech onstage at When We All Vote Inaugural Culture Of Democracy Summit on June 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

While Obama’s organization has been working to increase election participation since 2018 when she founded the group, the Associated Press noted that the summit held in an L.A. soccer stadium was “sparsely attended.”

Obama started the group intending to stop the mythic “voter suppression” that liberals claim is endemic in American elections. But there is little evidence that blacks have been prevented from voting. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, except for a small dip in 2016, black participation has grown in nearly every election since the Obama years through to 2019.

Still, since its founding, the When We All Vote group has been the toast of the Hollywood set and has numbered countless actors, directors, writers, and other denizens of Hollywood as members, co-chairs, and supporters.

It was reportedly the former first lady’s first appearance at such an event since the start of the pandemic.

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