Former first lady Michelle Obama is no stranger to bold and beautiful feats. But her latest accomplishment may be her boldest, her bravest, and dare I say, her most beautiful: publicly tolerating her husband.
Michelle introduced a “very, very, very, special” guest on her podcast this Wednesday. “It’s my husband, y’all,” Michelle exclaimed.
“Wait, you guys like each other?” Craig Robinson, Michelle’s co-host and brother, joked as Barack joined them at the table. (RELATED: Does Michelle Obama Hate Her Husband?)
“Oh yeah, really, huh,” Michelle snarked, muttering about the “rumor mill.” She further complained that, when she and Barack aren’t in the same room, “folks think we’re divorced.”
The mill has certainly been awhirl with divorce rumors, thanks to the ceaseless stream of complaining from Michelle herself.
She told another podcast guest earlier in June 2025 that she was “so glad” she didn’t have a son. Why?
“Because he would’ve been a Barack Obama,” Michelle explained.
Michelle Obama says she’s glad she didn’t have a son:
“He would have been a Barack Obama.” pic.twitter.com/HuziGTF90n
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) June 20, 2025
But perhaps I’ve read disdain for Barack into her remark where none was intended. Perhaps what Michelle really disdains is motherhood.
In an episode ostensibly dedicated to “women’s health,” Michelle offered this insight: “Women’s reproductive health is about our life. It’s about this whole complicated reproductive system that the least of what it does is produce life.”
At the risk of being too on the nose, I would refer Michelle to the meaning of the word “reproduction.”
In any case, Barack took a swing at diffusing divorce rumors in his podcast appearance.
“It was touch and go for a while,” Barack joked of their marriage. (RELATED: ‘She Took Me Back!’: Obamas Address Divorce Rumors On Former First Lady’s Podcast)
There is a Russian proverb that goes something like: “In every joke, there is a shred of a joke.” Even when defending her marriage, Michelle can’t help but harp on the difficulties therein.
“There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting on my man,” she claimed. “And we’ve had some really hard times.”
HOT MIC: Michelle Obama fueled more divorce buzz in her new podcast, hinting that she leaned on her brother — not her husband — to survive their White House years. pic.twitter.com/VLUgDLOSDR
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 13, 2025
Granted, Michelle went on to reference the “fun times” and “adventures” she’s had with Barack. Those times must predate her stay in the White House, which, as she griped in May, was a “dangerous” place to raise children and “expensive.”
Michelle even managed to subtly blame Barack for the public backlash against her comments on their marriage.
“See, but this is why I can’t talk,” she said, gesturing at Barack, after he grew emotional at a compliment. “You can take the hard stuff but when I start talking about the sweet stuff, you’re like, ‘Stop, no, I can’t do it,’” Michelle said, swinging into a high-pitched voice and waving her hands in the air.
The surest sign of a strong marriage is unidirectional scorn.
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC
