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First lady Michelle Obama made her case for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and slammed the GOP for the government shutdown on Friday during a Women’s Leadership Forum Conference in Washington, D.C., reports Politico.com. 

“When a small group of folks in Congress shuts down our government to try to shut down Obamacare, and we watch as our President stands strong, that’s not just some political fight in Washington — it is a battle about our most fundamental values and aspirations,” the first lady told the audience at the Women’s Leadership Forum Conference in Washington, D.C.

“[I]f you’re not happy about what you’ve seen in Congress lately, if you don’t like seeing folks in state government trying to undermine Obamacare or chip away at women’s rights and women’s health, then I urge you — let’s not just sit around feeling angry or helpless or hopeless, especially not [as] women,” she added. “Because there is something that all of you can do right now today to make a huge difference: You can write a check. That’s what we need you to do right now. We need you to write a big old check. (Laughter.) Write the biggest check you can possibly write.”

RELATED: Government Admits Obamacare Sign-up ‘Frustrating,’ Promises Changes

As previously reported by NewsOne, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a Facebook post that during a heated confrontation over government shutdown strategy, a House GOP leader told President Barack Obama “I can not even stand to look at you,” reports The Hill.

“Many Republicans searching for something to say in defense of the disastrous shutdown strategy will say President Obama just doesn’t try hard enough to communicate with Republicans,” Durbin wrote. “But in a ‘negotiation’ meeting with the president, one GOP House Leader told the president: ‘I cannot even stand to look at you.’”

“What are the chances of an honest conversation with someone who has just said something so disrespectful?”

The White House has denied that the exchange occurred.

Read more here: UPDATE: White House Denies Durbin’s Story: ‘It Did Not Happen’