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.
Last week, Barack admitted that there is “genuine tension” in his marriage with Michelle. This stems from his instance on staying involved in politics and constantly bashing President Donald Trump.
Though Michelle is no fan of Trump’s either, she was counting on her husband taking a step back from politics when he left office. Instead, Barack is more involved in politics than ever, which doesn’t sit well with Michelle.
Now, experts are saying that Michelle is right to be annoyed with Barack over this as their divorce rumors continue to spread.
‘Genuine Tension’ In Obama Marriage
Barack, 64, told The New Yorker last week that President Trump’s actions have pulled him back into politics “more than I would have preferred.” It seems that this has proved to be costly when it comes to the Obama marriage.
“She wants to see her husband easing up and spending more time with her, enjoying what remains of our lives,” Barack said of Michelle.
“It does create a genuine tension in our household, and it frustrates her,” he continued. “I’m more forgiving of it, in the sense that I understand why people feel that way, because people aren’t looking at me in historical comparison to other presidents. They don’t care about the fact that no other ex-president was the main surrogate for the Party for four election cycles after they left office.”
Experts Weigh In
Republican consultant Evan Siegfried agreed that Michelle Obama “has every right to be upset.” He went on to use a famous line from the movie The Godfather Part III to illustrate Michelle’s plight.
“Just when I thought I was out — they pull me back in,” Siegfried imagined Michelle saying. Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone famously said this in the third Godfather movie, referring to his thwarted efforts to break away from the Mafia.
“That’s gotta be what she’s feeling,” Siegfried told The Independent.
Democrat consultant Christopher Lee chimed in to say that there’s “always that issue in politics where spouses sacrifice a great deal of their lives.”
“At some point, I imagine, it gets tiresome,” he added.
Lee then pointed out that the Obamas have been living in the spotlight ever since Barack delivered the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. This launched his meteoric rise in politics virtually overnight.
“I don’t fault Michelle at all,” Lee said. “There’s a time where you’ve done your bit for king and country.”
More Experts Sound Off
Longtime Republican consultant Matt Rexroad agreed with his fellow political experts, saying that few outside politics could “fully understand the demands that campaigns put on people.”
“Politics has an insatiable demand on your time and I’m sure Mrs. Obama is feeling that,” Rexroad stated.
However, Rexroad also said that he gets why Barack would find it hard to resist speaking out, citing the impact of political “hit pieces.”
“I’ve seen campaigns spiral out of control because a spouse saw something in a Facebook post,” he explained. “When people are saying bad things about their loved ones, emotions tend to rise.”
Democrat consultant Jake Dilemani claimed that Trump has “for more than a decade been very nasty to (Barack) Obama.” This included pushing the “birther” conspiracy theory that Barack wasn’t born in the U.S., as the Constitution requires of presidents.
“Any time [Obama’s] name is mentioned, the guy [Trump] can’t help himself,” Dilemani lamented.
Finally, Democrat consultant Jon Reinish weighed in on this as well.
“I’m sure she would prefer that he stay at home and leave politics behind. She thinks it’s a dirty business — and she’s not wrong,” Reinish concluded. “As a spouse, I do not fault her for that but as a Democratic strategist, they could make so much of a difference if that friction were not in that house, when everything is on the line and he can make a difference.”
Obama Divorce Rumors
This comes at a difficult time for both Barack and Michelle. Indeed, the Obamas have been plagued by rampant divorce rumors for the past 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.
Barack’s latest comments about the “genuine tension” in his marriage has only caused the rumors that he and Michelle are heading for divorce to escalate. Only time will tell if the Obama marriage will survive!