Barack Obama says Michelle warned their daughters not to go into politics: ‘It’ll never happen’
Former president Barack Obama has revealed that his daughters have been warned off a life in politics by thjeir mother Michelle.
Obama appeared alongside President Joe Biden at his star-studded fundraising event in Los Angeles, where he joined the president and late show host on stage for a discussion panel.
During the conversation, 62-year-old Obama responded to the question of whether his daughters would ever follow in his footsteps and make a name for themselves on the United States political stage.
"That is a question I do not need to answer because Michelle [Obama] drilled into them so early that you would be crazy to go into politics,” he announced, speaking of his two daughters, Malia, 25, and Sasha, 22.
“It will never happen," he followed with before Biden added that they are both “powerful young women” who are friends with some of his own grandchildren.
The Obama family walking to Air Force One at Castle Airport June 19, 2016 in Merced County, California (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Instead of entering the realms of politics, both of the former president’s daughters have seemingly taken the former first lady’s advice and pursued different careers.
Malia recently made her red carpet debut at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where she premiered her short film The Heart, dropping the ‘Obama’ name from the credits and referring to herself as Malia Ann.
Malia wrote and directed the 18-minute short film that premiered at the festival in January in Utah.
“The film is about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things,” the 25-year-old said in a “Meet the Artist” video from the festival. “We hope you enjoy the film and it makes you feel a bit less lonely, or at least reminds you not to forget about the people who are.”
After graduating from Harvard University in 2021, Malia also worked as a writer on the Prime Video series Swarm, produced by Donald Glover. She also worked as an intern on the HBO series Girls and a production assistant on the TV series Extant, starring Halle Berry.
Jimmy Kimmel moderates a panel of President Joe Biden and former president Barack Obama at a fundraising event on Saturday in Los Angeles (AP)
Sasha, who also so far stayed away from politics, recently graduated from the University of Southern California in May with a degree in sociology.
While the daughters have been chasing their own interests despite their father being a former president, their mother, Michelle, has also had to swat away rumors that she will take a spot in American politics.
Michelle has fervently denied that she would run for office ever since her husband left the White House in 2017, most recently releasing a statement via her communications officer that “as former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president.”
“Mrs Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign,” the officer said in March.
In an interview with Oprah in 2023, Michelle said that she “never expressed any interest in politics. Ever.”
“I mean, I agreed to support my husband. He wanted to do it, and he was great at it,” Michelle continued. “But at no point have I ever said, ‘I think I want to run.’ Ever.”
Malia Obama attends the ‘The Heart’ premiere at 2024 Sundance Film Festival on 18 January 2024 in Park City, Utah (Getty Images)
Despite her political refusal, some polls still ranked Michelle Obama as the leading choice to replace Joe Biden if he were to drop out of the race.
About 48 per cent of Democratic voters supported “finding another candidate to replace Joe Biden before the election in November,” according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released in late February.
About 47 per cent of the respondents believe “it is likely Democrats will replace Biden with another candidate as their presidential nominee before the election in November, including 22 per cent who see it as very likely”.
Meanwhile, 45 per cent of 960 voters don’t think it’s likely Democrats will substitute another candidate.
At least 20 per cent of the respondents supported Michelle as the face replacing Biden. She was followed by Vice President Kamala Harris with 15 per cent, while about 12 per cent said they would like to see Hilary Clinton return. Gavin Newsom received support from 11 per cent of respondents.
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