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, Barack and Michelle are mourning a major loss as these divorce rumors continue to spread.
Barack And Michelle In Mourning
Barack and Michelle are mourning the death of the civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson. He died on Tuesday morning at the age of 84. The Obamas quickly released a joint statement saying that they were “deeply saddened” by Jackson’s death.
“For more than 60 years, Reverend Jackson helped lead some of the most significant movements for change in human history,” Barack and Michelle said. “From organizing boycotts and sit-ins, to registering millions of voters, to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect.”
The Obamas went on to talk about Jackson’s two presidential run in 1984 and 1988.
“In his two historic runs for president, he laid the foundation for my own campaign to the highest office of the land,” their statement read.
“Michelle and I will always be grateful for Jesse’s lifetime of service, and the friendship our families share,” the statement concluded. “We stood on his shoulders. We send our deepest condolences to the Jackson family and everyone in Chicago and beyond who knew and loved him.”
Check out their full statement below.
Obama Divorce Rumors
This comes at a stressful time for both Barack and his wife Michelle, who he’s been married to since 1992. Indeed, over the past year, they’ve been plagued by rampant rumors that they are divorcing.
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, 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.
As the Obamas continue to mourn Jackson, speculation about their marriage will likely continue. Only time will tell if the Obama marriage will actually survive 2026!