On Wednesday, former Democratic President Barack Obama appeared on the IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson podcast. In the almost one and a half hour episode, the former POTUS, FLOTUS, and Mrs. Obama's elder brother covered a number of topics.
But one that drew considerable attention was when the former first couple addressed rumors of a possible divorce in their future.
Rumors of a separation began earlier this year after the former First Lady did not attend several high-profile events—Donald Trump's inauguration and the funeral of former Democratic President Jimmy Carter—with her husband.
Michelle Obama previously addressed why she skipped the Trump 2.0 inauguration and the divorce rumors, but this was the first time the duo discussed the stories of an alleged split together for an audience of concerned listeners.
The primary episode topic was raising boys, but the trio started off the conversation with some jokes about the divorce rumors that are claiming the Obamas are ending their 32 year—33 in October—marriage.
When President Obama joined the siblings, Craig Robinson quipped:
"Wait, you guys like each other?"
Former First Lady Michelle Obama replied:
"Oh yeah, really, that's the rumor mill."
But Barack Obama joked:
"She took me back. It was touch and go for a while."
His wife responded:
"Now don't start."
You can watch the moment here:
Robinson added:
"It's so nice to have you both in the same room together."
To which Michelle Obama remarked, referring to how the rumors got started:
"I know, 'cause when we aren't, folks think we're divorced."
Robinson recounted a story about a woman who asked to take a photo with him at an airport, then asked him about the divorce rumors, wanting to know:
"What did he [Barack Obama] do?"
Robinson continued:
"I said, 'What makes you think he messed up?' Why couldn't it have been her?"
His younger sister interjected:
"Why didn't you just say, 'No one messed up.'"
To which Robinson replied:
"I wanted to keep this conversation going so I could tell you about it."
He finished, saying he told the woman the divorce rumors weren't true and added:
"She was so happy you would've thought I gave her a Christmas gift."
While Trump and his MAGA minions claim to be the moral high ground, there's an abundance of infidelity and divorce amongst their leaders. Meanwhile, the supposedly anti-Christian, anti-family Democratic party leaders are couple goals for many people.
The Carters—regular church-goers who dedicated their lives to public service, especially with Habitat For Humanity—were married for 77 years with no scandals beyond President Carter once admitting a beautiful woman might cause "lust" in his "heart."
The Clintons, despite their very public marital problems, have been married 50 years. A widower who married again, Joe Biden has been Dr. Jill Biden’s husband for 48 years.
In contrast, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump had two marriages end in divorce due to his inability to be faithful to anyone. His third marriage is also full of credible accusations of infidelity—and sexual assault—due to hush money payments Trump made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal for time periods that overlap with his marriage to Melania.
And the current first couple have lived apart off and on throughout Trump’s presidencies.
So Trump's sycophants in right-wing media were positively giddy to spread rumors of a separation between any of the Democratic Party's power couples. The Obamas alleged split was the subject of speculation repeatedly on Fox.
The former President noted he's often unaware of rumors, until he's questioned directly, saying:
"These are the kinds of things that I just miss."
"So I don’t even know this stuff’s going on and then somebody will mention it to me and I’m like what are you talking about?"
Getting serious, Michelle Obama added:
"There hasn't been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quittin' my man. And we've had some really hard times."
"We have 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."
President Obama responded:
"OK, don’t make me cry now. Not at the beginning of the show."
People were happy the Obamas marriage is as solid as ever.
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You can watch the full one-hour 20-minute episode here:
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