By Michelle Obama’s latest public remarks have reignited a national conversation—not only about marriage and motherhood, but about privilege, propriety, and the weight of words from those in high places. Appearing on her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, the former first lady offered a glimpse into her personal life that many found refreshingly candid—but others viewed as troublingly self-involved.
The episode, centered on the challenges of raising boys in a culture grappling with toxic masculinity, veered into unexpected territory when Obama admitted she was “glad” not to have had a son. Her rationale? A son might have turned out like her husband, Barack Obama—a comparison she presented as a burden rather than a blessing. The remark, delivered casually, struck some listeners as a veiled critique of the former president and opened the floodgates to public scrutiny.
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
In other interviews, she seems to resent the success of her husband and complained that she had to pay for her own food while living in the White House.
Michelle Obama’s claim that living in the White House was ‘expensive’ because she had to pay for her own food is a jaw-dropping display of privilege that’s hard to stomach. Let’s break this down. While the First Family does cover personal expensed
they also had a $400,000… pic.twitter.com/kUr9jkfqiz— Hosna ⚖️ (@DOGEQEEN) May 3, 2025
The Federalist asked a question that no one else wants to: Is Michelle Obama losing it?
This was not an isolated disclosure. In recent years, Obama has revisited the theme of marital hardship, including a now well-circulated 2022 interview in which she confessed to struggling with resentment toward her husband during the early child-rearing years. On her podcast, she repeated the claim that she “couldn’t stand” him for nearly a decade, casting marriage not as a fairy tale but as a long slog punctuated by emotional valleys. She also recently explained that she’s going through therapy.
Obama’s reflections on her present stage of life have also drawn fire. In a separate podcast appearance with Jay Shetty, the former First Lady spoke of finally entering a season where decisions are made for herself rather than her children or husband. “Freedom,” she called it—freedom now possible, at age 60, after decades of familial obligation. Yet the assertion, made in the context of a post-White House lifestyle that includes multimillion-dollar properties, international travel, and best-selling books, struck many as tone-deaf.
The Federalist points out that “it is a bit crazy that she has not felt free before now, especially with an estimated net worth of $70 million, according to The Network Journal. Money offers freedom to pay for her daughters’ weddings without worry. Freedom to never worry about affording retirement. Freedom to buy a private island, to add to her collection of mansions, if she wants. That kind of scratch offers the freedom to do just about anything at all.
A lot of people would be satisfied with two grown daughters, a husband who became president, $70 million, and enough personal clout that people are interested in what her podcast has to say. She could do so much good with her voice. That she squanders her time with personal complaints about having to buy food in the White House and public commentary about not wanting a son who would turn out like her husband suggests she is not well.
The rest of us are just out here appreciating what we have, living basically happy lives, contributing more to the world than unsolicited advice from a troubled woman living a charmed life that she can’t stop complaining about.”
As she steps more fully into the role she has cast for herself as some kind of public philosopher, Michelle Obama, there’s really only one take away: she’s really having a hard time.
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