Michelle Obama addressed widespread speculation surrounding her absence from former President Donald Trump's second inauguration, revealing in a new podcast episode that the decision stemmed from a personal effort to reclaim agency and prioritize mental well-being. Her remarks follow months of media scrutiny and viral rumors suggesting discord within her marriage to former President Barack Obama.
"My decision to skip the inauguration... was met with such ridicule and criticism," Obama said on the April 23 episode of her podcast IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, which she co-hosts with her brother. "People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart."
The former first lady said she made the choice based on what she described as a growing practice of doing what's best for herself, even when that runs counter to expectations. "It took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the thing that was right for me - that was a hard thing for me to do," she said.
Obama revealed she intentionally avoided preparing for the inauguration as a way to resist last-minute pressure to attend. "I had to basically trick myself out of it," she said. "If I'm not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team I don't even want to have a dress ready. Because it's so easy to just say, 'Let me do the right thing.'"
Her comments come after similar remarks on the "Work in Progress with Sophia Bush" podcast, where she said, "People couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself... they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing."
In the podcast, Obama also spoke about the emotional toll of public service and the aftermath of her eight years in the White House. "We made it through. We got out alive," she said. "I hope we made the country proud. My girls, thank God, are whole. But what happened to me?"
Therapy, she said, has helped her unpack the experience and begin to heal. "Going through therapy is getting me to look at the fact that maybe finally I'm good enough."
The episode, which featured actress Taraji P. Henson as a guest, delved into broader themes of emotional labor and societal expectations placed on women-particularly Black women. "You've had to be a shock absorber for your husband, for your children... because of where you were sitting in the public eye. That's not fair to you," Henson said.
Obama, 61, emphasized the importance of teaching her daughters, Malia and Sasha, to establish boundaries. "It's a muscle that you have to build. And I think we suffered, because it's almost like we started training late in life to build that muscle," she said. "I want my girls to start practicing different strategies for saying no."
She recounted how early media coverage during her husband's campaign painted her as "bitter" for speaking candidly about his flaws. "The first thing that some female journalist said is that I was bitter. I was emasculating him just by sort of trying to tell the truth," she said.
Obama added, "The first label they put on us as Black women is that we are angry," reflecting on the stereotypes that have long shaped public discourse around her. "Even if it's in the context of great joy and pride... if you talk forcefully or passionately about something, you get labeled."
New episodes of IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson are released Wednesdays on YouTube and podcast platforms.
