Over the past few months, 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 adding fuel to these rumors in a big way by whining about her time as First Lady. Indeed, she’s claiming that she wasn’t given “grace” and was forced to endure a “white hot glare” when she was living in the White House.
Michelle Whines About Being First Lady
Michelle, 61, is currently promoting her new book “The Look.” While the book is supposed to be about fashion, Michelle also shamelessly used it to whine about her time as First Lady.
“We were all too aware that as a first black couple, we couldn’t afford any missteps.’ And that as a black woman, I was under a particularly white hot glare,” Michelle lamented in the book.
Michelle went on to argue that “we didn’t get the grace that I think some other families have gotten.”
The former First Lady doubled down on this while being interviewed by ABC News host Robin Roberts on Sunday night.
“Making a mistake in a political environment where you’re the first and people are where your opponents are using your race as a fear-based strategy to make you seem like the other, then everything matters,” Michelle complained.
Michelle Didn’t Want Fashion To Be A ‘Distraction’
Michelle then said that when she was First Lady, she was reluctant to talk about fashion because she didn’t want it to be a “distraction.” Instead, she believed that it was important for the public to “know me by the work that I did and not what I looked like.”
Now that the public has known her for many years, Michelle feels like it’s time for her to discuss her fashion choices. In her mind, this is a “soft power.”
“You know, style and fashion, and how we show up in the world is an important way that we send a message,” she explained. “What you’re wearing says something about what you care about. It speaks to your background, your culture. So, I really thought about what I wanted to say.”
When considering what to wear in the White House, Michelle claimed that looming over her was the “mothers and grandmothers out there who I knew would be shaking their head if I didn’t show up right.”
“We live in a culture, sadly, where, you know, if somebody wants to go after a woman, the first thing they do is go after our looks, our size, our physical being, as a way to, you know, make us feel small, to keep us in place,” she said.
Michelle also believes that there’s a “tendency for certain designers to feel like they own the first lady.”
“So like anything else, that kind of attitude blocks out opportunities from other designers,” Michelle concluded. “So I thought about that.”
Barack’s Marriage ‘Deficit’ With Michelle
It’s become increasingly clear over the past few years that Michelle loathed her time in the White House.
Last month, Barack admitted that he was in a marriage “deficit” with Michelle after leaving the White House. This was apparently due to just how bitter she was about having to live in the lavish mansion.
Barack revealed this while being interviewed on the final episode of WTF with Marc Maron, which is ending after sixteen years. While speaking to host Marc Maron, Barack offered up some advice about how to handle suddenly having so much free time.
“Just be a little brain-dead for a while. I read a bunch of books that had been stacked up,” Barack, 64, advised as he talked about when he left office. “I had a big deficit with my wife I had to kind of work my way out of, right? So, we went on a lot of trips and hung out and had nice dinners and slept in.”
‘Trying To Dig Myself Out Of A Hole…’
Barack previously made similar comments while speaking in London’s O2 Arena as part of his European speaking tour, Barack confirmed that his time in the White House drastically negatively impacted his relationship with Michelle, 61.
“I was digging myself out of the hole I found myself in with Michelle,” Barack confessed. “Now I’m at about level ground.”
Barack went on to say that it’s been “challenging” to get his marriage with Michelle, 61, back on track.
Barack made nearly identical comments about the state of his marriage days later while giving a speech at a Jefferson Educational Society event in Erie, Pennsylvania.
“I have spent over eight years now trying to dig myself out of a hole with Michelle,” Barack said in that speech.
“And that’s been challenging, but I feel like I’m making progress,” he added. “I’m almost breaking even at the moment.”
That doesn’t sound very promising for the future of the Obamas’ marriage, now does it?!
Obama Divorce Rumors
This comes at a difficult time for the Obamas, as they’ve been plagued by rampant divorce rumors for years.
These divorce rumors escalated in a big way back in January, 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 earlier this year. “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. 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 recently 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.”
Watch Tucker and Megyn talk more about this in the video below.
The Obamas Respond
Back in July, 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.
Michelle’s latest comments complaining about her time as First Lady will certainly do nothing to help her case that all is well in her marriage. Only time will tell if Michelle and Barack actually stay together!