Michelle Obama is grateful that her husband Barack Obama has always been devoted to their family.
The former first lady shared a nostalgic Father’s Day post on Instagram, proving that time has been the ultimate salve to soothe the rough patches they have endured.
The empty-nesters are parents to daughters Malia, 26, and Sasha, 24. They met in 1989 in Chicago and wed three years later in 1992. In the post, she uploaded a photo of her, the former president, and their then-pre-adolescent daughters cheerfully smiling for the camera as they sat on a sofa.
“I love looking back at photos like this of when our girls were younger,” the former attorney began. “@Barackobama has always been there for us no matter what — even when it felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. We’ve always been so grateful,” continued Michelle.
She closed out the message by sending warm wishes for all dads and father figures on their special day. A supporter commented, “Beautiful family. Thank you for being there for all of us even at a cost to your own family.”
A second follower directed their reaction at the “Becoming” author.
They wrote, in part, “Thank you for helping him achieve greatness. Thank you for standing by him when others shamed him. Thank you for being a fearless, and selfless wife and companion to him. Obama is not perfect, but who is? Your husband is a very true dignified man and human being.”
On X, though, a few people could not resist resurfacing Michelle’s past candid remarks about bearing the weight of parenting during Barack’s two terms in office. The Chicago senator was first elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.
A wisecrack reply to the Father’s Day post read, “She previously said he wasn’t and she hated him for 10 years.”
During the 2022 REVOLT x Michelle Obama: The Cross-Generational Conversation roundtable, the public figure admitted that her marriage took a hit during the early aughts of parenthood.
“People think I’m being catty by saying this — it’s like, there were 10 years where I couldn’t stand my husband. And guess when it happened? When those kids were little,” she told host Angie Martinez and guests Kelly Rowland, Tina Knowles, H.E.R., and Winnie Harlow.
The resurfacing of that truth bomb comes months into speculative reports suggesting that the Obamas’ marriage has been rocky. The pair have been plagued by divorce rumors amid their rare sightings together.
Michelle Obama breaks her silence on skipping Trump’s inauguration and how people assumed there were issues in her marriage because she wasn’t there
— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) April 23, 2025
🔗 https://t.co/5d0euzB73s pic.twitter.com/KfxZ14kApP
When Michelle launched the “In My Opinion” podcast with her brother Craig Robinson and not her husband in March, some skeptics assumed the business venture validated the separation narrative. They could not have been more misguided.
“If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it,” she said during a May 1 episode. A month earlier, Michelle also shot down the false claims that marital strife was the catalyst for her skipping out on President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
