Former President Barack Obama delivered a remarkably candid admission regarding the state of his marriage to Michelle Obama in a recent interview.
“I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” Barack, 63, told Hamilton College President Steven Tepper in a conversation Thursday, according to the Daily Beast. “So I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”
The former president has previously indicated that his consecutive terms in office from 2009 to 2017 took a toll on his relationship with the former first lady.
“Let me just say this: It sure helps to be out of the White House and to have a little more time with her,” Barack said in a May 2023 interview, making sure to praise Michelle for being “forgiving” of his shortcomings.
Meanwhile, she revealed in December 2022 that she “couldn’t stand” her husband for a solid decade when their daughters — Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23 — “were little,” adding that she wasn’t “being catty by saying this.”
According to Michelle, “marriage isn’t 50/50 — ever, ever.”
“There are times I’m 70, he’s 30. There are times he’s 60, [I’m] 40. But guess what? Ten years — we’ve been married 30 — I would take 10 bad years over 30. It’s just how you look at it.”
In an April 2023 interview, she explained that she discusses her partnership openly “because marriage is hard, and many young people give up on it over challenges that are simply part of the commitment.” She also acknowledged that the compromises involved “ain’t always fun.”
The Obamas, who have been married since October 1992, have lately been the subject of divorce rumors that appear to have begun in January after Barack Obama attended several political events alone, including former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
That said, an insider claimed at the time that Michelle is simply “checked out” of DC life, according to Page Six.
One source who used to work with the Obamas also told the outlet: “They don’t pretend that they have this Camelot relationship. They’re not trying to present that they’re this magical couple.”
