Barack and Michelle Obama addressed the viral divorce rumors with humor on Michelle’s podcast Wednesday, as the former president joked that his wife “took me back.”
“She took me back!” Barack Obama quipped on the “IMO” podcast hosted by his wife and her brother Craig Robinson. “It was touch and go for a while.”
Michelle Obama’s absence from high-profile events—such as President Donald Trump’s inauguration and Jimmy Carter’s funeral—fueled online speculation that her marriage to Barack Obama was in trouble. While the former first lady had previously addressed the rumors in separate interviews, this marked the first time the couple publicly discussed them together, Fox News reported.
“It’s my husband, ya’ll!” Michelle Obama said to begin the podcast. “When we aren’t [in the same room], folks think we’re divorced.”
Robinson recalled that the rumors had spread so widely, one woman in Kansas even asked him, “What did he do?” referring to the 44th president and speculating he had driven Michelle away. He said she was relieved to hear the rumors were unfounded.
The former president acknowledged that he was not aware of the gossip, stating that he usually avoids being involved in online discussions.
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“There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I’ve thought about quitting my man,” Michelle said. “We’ve had some really hard times. We’ve 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.”
“Don’t make me cry now,” Barack said. “Don’t let me start tearing up now.”
In past media appearances, Michelle Obama has mocked the divorce rumors and suggested they carried a sexist undertone, implying that people couldn’t accept the idea of a woman simply making independent choices.
“But the interesting thing is that when I say no, for the most part, people are like, ‘I get it, and I’m okay,’ right?” she told podcast host Sophia Bush about how she spends her time. “And that’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with, like disappointing people.
“I mean so much so that this year people were, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing, you know? This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right? But that’s what society does to us,” she added.
Michelle noted on her own podcast earlier this year: “My decision to skip the inauguration, what people don’t realize — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me were met with such ridicule and criticism. People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason that they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.”
Earlier this month, during an episode of NPR’s Wild Card with Rachel Martin, Michelle also dispelled divorce rumors.
“Even in this phase in our lives, when Barack and I say something right or wrong, it does get covered. You know, the fact that people don’t see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumors of the end of our marriage. I mean, it’s sort of…” she said.
“It’s the apocalypse. It’s like, OK, so we don’t Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We’re 60, y’all. We just, you just are not gonna know what we’re doing every minute of the day, you know?” Michelle Obama added.
Michelle was once again spotted without her husband the previous week, continuing a pattern that has only fueled public speculation about their relationship.
The former First Lady vacationed in Mallorca with daughters Malia and Sasha. The trio was photographed dining at the Lobster Club in Puerto Portals, Calvià.