Michelle Obama: My brother had to talk me into being first lady

Telegraph

12-03-2025

Michelle Obama has revealed her brother had to convince her to back Barack Obama's presidential run after she initially shut down the 'crazy' idea.
The former first lady said her husband had to go to Craig Robinson, her elder brother, and ask him to help talk her into supporting his political ambitions.
In the first episode of the siblings' new podcast IMO, which stands for 'in my opinion', Mrs Obama said her initial reaction to her husband's presidential campaign was 'Nope. No way. This is crazy. We've done enough crazy stuff.'
'I couldn't have gotten through eight years in the White House without my big brother,' she said. 'This whole, you know, being married to the president of the United States [is a] thing that none of us kind of banked on.
'I mean we knew Barack was smart and, you know, ambitious… but you talked me into supporting his run, and he was smart enough to know that he needed to come to you and sell you on the idea,' she said.
Mr Robinson, who is the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, described how the former president came to him and said: 'I can't convince your sister to go along with this.'
'I said: 'Listen, what you have to do is, first of all, let me talk to her, you don't talk to her, let me talk to her,'' he said, adding: 'I convinced you to not penalise him for being really good at what he does... I talked to you and mum at the same time, and both of you sat there reasonably mad and said I was right.'
In the first two episodes of the podcast series, which launched on Wednesday and is produced by the Obamas' production company Higher Ground, Mrs Obama gives an extraordinary insight into her marriage with the former president.
Speaking to her brother in the first hour-long episode, the mother-of-two, 61, takes a swipe at her husband's punctuality after describing how her father would always be ready an hour before they needed to leave.
'Barack had to adjust to what on time was... you know, I've got this husband who, when it's time to leave, he's getting up and going to the bathroom,' she said.
'And I was like, 'dude, like three o'clock departure means you've done all that.' It's like, don't start looking for your glasses, you know, at the three o'clock departure.'
She added: 'He's improved over 30 years of marriage... you must adjust.'
Mr Robinson joked that Mr Obama had been on 'island time,' appearing to refer to his brother-in-law's upbringing in Hawaii.
In the second episode, the siblings discussed the differences between female and male friendships with guest Issa Rae, the American actress.
Appearing to make another dig at her husband, Mrs Obama described how he would ask what she and her female friends are 'talking about all day' when they come to stay for a catch up.
In contrast, she said her husband, 63, can spend five hours with his friends playing golf and not ask them about serious issues such as a cancer diagnosis.
She said: 'I will have heard that somebody has cancer, and I was like 'how is X? Did you hear that they had cancer?'
'He's like, 'no, we didn't talk about that' and I'm just like 'what? You were golfing all day and it never came up? You never asked about our godson, for example… it's like what were you all doing?''
Mrs Obama added that the 'difference' between men and women is the former will be 'with each other all day, looking directly away from each other at a ball, right?
'Whereas when I'm with my friends, we are turned, we are physically turned in towards one another, feet off comfort, sometimes we're touching, you know, there are tears, and that can go on for hours.'
Mrs Obama's comments come after her husband appeared to attempt to quash rumours of a split by posting a gushing social media post to celebrate the birthday of the 'love of my life'.
The couple have rarely been seen together in public, sparking rumours of potential marriage problems.
Mrs Obama skipped Donald Trump's inauguration in January, leaving her husband to attend alone. She also missed the state funeral of Jimmy Carter, citing a scheduling conflict. It later emerged that she was on holiday in Hawaii without her husband.
Last year, Jennifer Aniston denied rumours that she had been having an affair with Mr Obama on Jimmy Kimmel Live, saying she had only 'met him once'.
'I know Michelle more than him,' she said.