Barack Obama’s wife has lifted the lid on what it was really like being first lady for eight years
Michelle Obama has shared about the ‘pure hypocrisy’ she faced during her time in the White House in a tell-all new interview.
For people who need a reminder, Michelle served as First Lady of the United States between 2009 and 2017, when her husband Barack Obama was elected to the presidential position twice in a row.
Now 61, she spent a total of eight years in the role and she also made history at the time as she was the first African-American woman to become first lady.
Though her time in the position may have looked picture perfect, she’s now revealed that not everything was exactly as it seemed.
The high-profile political role is a ‘complicated assignment,’ with Michelle describing it as ‘knowing you’re supposed to be inspirational, yet accessible,’ adding that you should be ‘uniquely yourself, authentic, but representational at the same time’.
In a new exclusive interview with PEOPLE Magazine, Obama further opened up some of the lesser-known realities of those eight years.
Michelle was asked whether times when criticism, like that of her bare arms, affected her.
If you don’t know what we’re talking about, in 2009, the then-first lady sparked a whole load of backlash, simply because she wore a top that exposed her arms.
She posed for her first official White House photo in a sleeveless dress and people gave their two pence, hitting out that it was too informal.
Reacting to this moment, Michelle said to the publication in her recent interview: “I took it for what it was, pure hypocrisy.
“I could pull up pictures of Jackie O in a second and see this fashion icon in sleeveless dresses as first lady. So at a point, you’re like, ‘Oh, this is politics. If you can’t beat them, make everybody scared of them’.
“That was the motto. If it wasn’t the clothes, it was “that terrorist fist bump.” It was every word that we said. It was my husband’s tan suit.”
Michelle is referring to the time in 2014 that her husband Barack wore a tan suit during a press conference about the US military response to ISIS.
For some reason, people took his fashion choice as being disrespectful.
She said to PEOPLE: “I loved that tan suit! When he had it on, I was like, “Oh, my God, you look so cute.”
“[Then] I was like, “Oh, you got clocked for that one. Welcome to my world.” That was towards the end of his presidency, so we were used to all the crazy issues that people would take with us.”
In the interview, Michelle also heartbreakingly disclosed that she never wore her hair in braids during her time as first lady as she ‘didn’t think the country was ready for it.’
She told the publication: “The Crown Act [which protects employees and students from race-based hair discrimination] hadn’t been passed yet, and just like fashion, I didn’t want my hair to become a distraction.
“But I understood the significance of wearing braids to our portrait unveiling. I wanted to send a message, add to the discourse of Black women in places of power, saying, “This, too, is an appropriate and beautiful way to wear your hair.”
