Over the past year, rumors have been swirling that Barack and Michelle Obama are heading for divorce. According to these rumors, Barack and Michelle have been living “separate lives” for quite some time.
Now, Michelle is speaking out to defend Americans who voted for President Donald Trump as these divorce rumors continue to spread like wildfire.
While appearing on the “Talk Easy” podcast on Sunday, Michelle launched into a surprising defense of Trump voters. This came as a shock to many, given how vehemently anti-Trump both Michelle and Barack have been for years.
Michelle Defends Trump Voters
In a twist that virtually nobody saw coming, Michelle warned against lecturing voters who supported Trump.
When asked if she thinks the country changed after Trump’s 2016 and 2024 presidential victories, Michelle admitted that she was disappointed by it. However, she was quick to add that the outcome was more about the pain the American people have been going through. Indeed, Michelle expressed her belief that healthcare combined with a high cost of living left Americans looking for someone to blame.
“And that’s true that anger, you know, I can’t look some people in the face and tell them you have no right to be angry or to do something that maybe is against your own interest,” said Michelle, 62. “That’s what — that’s human nature. Many of the people who voted for my husband twice — twice! And I know that that’s how they feel. It’s like, this isn’t about anything other than just, we need something different.”
“So, you can’t just pigeonhole them and say you just don’t care, and you’re racist or whatever you’re thinking,” she continued. “This is an act of ‘I don’t know what else to do.'”
Michelle Doubles Down
“I just wish we had more leaders that were figuring out how to do more for the middle class, for the working folks, because those are the folks who are drowning in this economy,” Michelle added. “It’s not me anymore, but I know those folks, and they’re good people, and they don’t have a way out and that makes for bad choices.”
Michelle still made sure to get a dig in at America, however. Earlier in the podcast, Michelle claimed that the United States has not “completed the assignment of actualizing this democracy.”
Michelle also tellingly told her interviewer that she doesn’t like answering to “Mrs. Obama.” Instead, she asked him to refer to her as either “Michelle” or “hey you.”
Yikes!
Obama Divorce Rumors
This comes at a stressful time for both Michelle and Barack, 64. Indeed, the have been plagued by rampant divorce rumors for over a year.
These divorce rumors escalated in a big way back in January of last year, when Michelle skipped both the funeral of Jimmy Carter and the inauguration of Donald Trump. She was the only living former First Lady to miss each of these events. This forced Barack to attend both events alone.
“I have been hearing this rumor that the Obamas are getting a divorce by reputable people,” political commentator Meghan McCain said on reporter Tara Palmeri’s podcast in 2025. “I’m not talking about TMZ, I’m not talking about Perez Hilton, although I love him, he’s my friend.”
“I’m talking about like very serious journalists telling me that they’re hearing that the Obama divorce rumors are true,” she continued.
“We’ve heard that for a long time,” replied Tara, who has long covered Washington politics. “Like I just heard that they live separate lives.”
Listen to Meghan and Tara talk more about this in the clip below.
Michelle Accused Of ‘Really Disliking’ Barack
Michelle launched her IMO podcast back in March of last year. Since then, Michelle has used it to bash Barack and air his dirty laundry seemingly every chance she gets.
In fact, Michelle has complained about Barack so many times on her podcast that the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has claimed that the former First Lady “really dislikes her husband, and it’s super obvious.”
“I’m not just saying that to be catty,” Tucker explained. “I think I’m trying to feel compassion for her but her hostility toward the guy is unbelievable.”
Tucker’s fellow former Fox News host Megyn Kelly was quick to agree. She pointed out that “everything Michelle says about her husband is negative.”
“I almost never say negative things about Doug,” Megyn added, referring to her own husband Doug Brunt. “He’s not perfect but when I think about him, I don’t immediately go to whatever is negative. I go to what’s positive and what I love about him.”
The Obamas Respond
Back in July of last year, Barack appeared on Michelle’s IMO podcast. There, they desperately tried to shoot down the escalating divorce rumors.
“There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man,” Michelle claimed. “And we’ve had some really hard times. So we had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures, and I have become a better person because of the man I’m married to.”
“These are the kinds of things that I just miss, right?” Barack chimed in to add. “So I don’t even know this stuff’s going on. And then somebody will mention it to me and I’m all like, ‘what are you talking about?'”
Unfortunately for the Obamas, however, many are still not buying their claims that their marriage is still going strong.
The fact that Michelle is choosing now to defend those who voted for Trump, who has regularly criticized her husband over the years, will certainly do nothing to help her case that all is well in her marriage. Only time will tell if the Obama marriage will actually survive!