Barack Obama opened up about the negative impact that Donald Trump has indirectly had on his marriage to Michelle Obama.
The 64-year-old former president left the White House in January 2017 after the 79-year-old president won the election the previous year. As the campaigns for the midterm elections this year and the 2028 presidential election continue to pick up steam, Barack remains actively engaged with politics
In a conversation with The New Yorker, he admitted that Trump‘s divisive politics has kept him “more [politically active] than [he] would have preferred.” Additionally, he said that his involvement has caused some “tension” between himself and Michelle.
Obama admitted that his engagement in politics has created “genuine tension” in his home.
“She wants to see her husband easing up and spending more time with her, enjoying what remains of our lives,” he explained.
His desire to continue to campaign and help offset some of Trump‘s policies “does create a genuine tension in our household, and it frustrates her.”
“I’m more forgiving of it, in the sense that I understand why people feel [that he’s needed on the campaign trail], because people aren’t looking at me in historical comparison to other Presidents. They don’t care about the fact that no other ex-President was the main surrogate for the Party for four election cycles after they left office,” Barack continued.
He also addressed personal attacks from Trump, including that racist AI video of himself and Michelle depicted as apes.
The former president also addressed the current president’s personal attacks against himself and his family. In February, Trump posted an AI-generated video that depicted Barack and Michelle as apes. At the time, the Republican insisted that he had nothing to apologize for, despite the video’s racist undertones.
Barack addressed the incident shortly after the video was released. Months later he said that he doesn’t take the attacks “personally.”
“I mean, I’m always offended when my wife and kids get dragged into things, because they didn’t choose this,” he explained. “That’s a line that even people whose politics I deeply reject, I would expect them to care about. I would never talk about somebody’s family in that way.”
He described himself as “a fair target,” explaining, “You can feel free to pick on me, because I’m your own size.”
Calls for him to remain politically engaged seem like a good thing to Obama.
Regarding the current political climate, Barack acknowledged pressure for him to do more and said that he thought “every day” about what that would look like. He also thought that pressure for him to be even more engaged was a good thing.
“The fact that people want me to be ‘doing more’ is a good sign,” he stressed, adding that he feels “there has not been as decided a shift in American attitudes as we are making out.”
He continued, saying, “And that’s part of the reason people are frustrated. Sometimes it’s directed toward me, which is fine because they kind of sense, Wait, how can we be doing this when I know that’s not who we were? And I don’t think it’s really who we are now.”
Earlier this year, Trump revealed the bizarre “only thing” that he respected about Barack.
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