Topline

Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama addressed divorce rumors in a joint podcast appearance Wednesday, with Barack joking their marriage was “touch and go for a while” and Michelle shutting down speculation about a potential end to the 32-year union.

Former US President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention … More in Chicago, Illinois, United States on August 20, 2024 (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Anadolu via Getty ImagesKey Facts

Michelle, who hosts the podcast alongside her brother, said there has not been “one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man,” noting her and Barack have had “some really hard times” and “some really good times” and saying she has “become a better person because of the man I’m married to.”

“She took me back!” Barack said as he joined the podcast, joking the marriage was “touch and go for a while” before Michelle said spectators believe the two are divorced when they are not in the same room.

Barack said he has been largely unaware of the speculation about a divorce with his wife, “and then somebody will mention it to me and I’ll be like, ‘what are you talking about?’”

Divorce rumors swirled around the couple after the former president made multiple high-profile public appearances in the past year without Michelle, including at President Donald Trump’s inauguration and former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

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What Has Michelle Said About Divorce Rumors In The Past?

In an April appearance on the “Work in Progress with Sophia Bush” podcast, Michellle said she believed divorce rumors were ignited by her making her own schedule separate from the former president. “That’s the thing that we as women—I think we struggle with disappointing people,” she said. “So much so that this year people… couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”

Key Background

The Obamas married in 1992 a few years after they began working at the same Chicago law firm, Sidley Austin LLP. They welcomed their first child, Malia, in 1998 and had their second child, Sasha, in 2001. Michelle worked on her husband’s campaign for U.S. senator in 2004 and did the same for his presidential campaign in 2008, when Barack defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the presidential election. Michelle has publicly talked about the challenges of marriage before, saying in a 2020 episode of “The Michelle Obama Podcast” there were times she “wanted to push Barack out of the window,” but adding “that doesn’t mean you quit.” She also said in 2022 she “couldn’t stand” her husband during the early years of the childrens’ lives and noted because parents cannot blame the irrationality of growing children, “you turn that ire on each other.” In an appearance on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast last year, Michelle said she wanted to normalize talking about normal rough patches that make people “want to quit,” saying “that’s what sustaining a relationship is—it’s the choice to figure it out, not quit when it gets hard.”

Further Reading

Michelle and Barack Obama’s Complete Relationship Timeline (Elle)