After months of speculation swirling around the state of their relationship, Barack and Michelle Obama are finally speaking out—and they’re doing it with humor, honesty, and a whole lot of love.
The former president made a surprise appearance on Michelle’s podcast “IMO” this week, marking the couple’s first public comments together about the rumors that they had quietly separated earlier this year. From the jump, they set the tone with a little playful banter. Michelle’s brother and co-host, Craig Robinson, kicked things off with a jab, asking, “What, you guys like each other?” as Barack entered the room.
That lighthearted moment was followed by something more heartfelt. Michelle didn’t waste time addressing the chatter, making it clear that there was never any doubt in her mind about their bond. “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man,” she 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”, reported the New York Post.
For months, Michelle has been more vocal about shutting down the rumors. On earlier episodes of her podcast and in other interviews, she’s clapped back at speculation that their absence from certain public events meant trouble behind the scenes. In April, she explained her decision to skip the inauguration wasn’t some dramatic statement—it was just her doing what felt right for her. But critics weren’t having it. “People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason,” she said. “They had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.”
And while Barack hadn’t directly addressed the rumors until now, some of his past comments fueled the fire. In an April chat with Hamilton College President Steven Tepper, he admitted he had work to do on the home front. “I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” he said. “So I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”
Still, he’s clearly not shying away anymore. And on a totally different note, he’s also not holding back when it comes to his political party. At a DNC fundraiser on July 11, Obama didn’t mince words about what he sees as a lack of grit among some Democrats. “I’ve seen people who—when I was president, or progressives, liberals—stood for all kinds of stuff, who seem like they’re kind of cowed and intimidated,” he said. “It’s going to require a little bit less navel-gazing and a little less whining and being in fetal positions. And it’s going to require Democrats to just toughen up.”
But back to the marriage talk, the whispers have gotten so loud that even Michelle’s brother has been getting stopped by strangers. “This woman came up to me and she was so nice,” Craig said during the podcast. “She’s like, ‘Can I have a picture?’ then… ‘What did he do?’”
Barack, ever the cool dad, couldn’t help but laugh. “It wasn’t like, ‘What happened to them?’ It was like, ‘How’d he mess up?’”
Michelle may have raised a few eyebrows when she joked recently that she was glad not to have a son because “he would have been [another] Barack Obama,” but if Wednesday’s episode proves anything, it’s that these two are still very much in sync—even if they poke fun at each other along the way.