Former first lady Michelle Obama said she skipped President Donald Trump's inauguration in January because she made "the choice that was right for me."
Obama made news that unintentionally put focus on her marriage to former President Barack Obama when she decided not to join her husband, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush at Trump's second inauguration.
During Wednesday's podcast episode of "IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson," the former first lady explained missing the inauguration.
"My decision to skip the inauguration — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me — were met with such ridicule and criticism," Obama said of headlines surrounding the inauguration and her husband's solo public outings.
"People couldn't believe that I was saying no for any other reason, they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart.
"I'm here really trying to own my life and intentionally practice making the choice that was right for me, and it took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me, that was a hard thing for me to do."
Michelle Obama said she had to "basically trick" herself into following through on her desire to skip the inauguration.
"It started with not having anything to wear," Obama told her brother and actress Taraji P. Henson. "I was like, 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, right? Because it's so easy to just say let me do the right thing."
In early January, Michelle Obama did not join her husband in attending former President Jimmy Carter's funeral. Rumors then emerged online about the status of the Obamas' marriage.
"They couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing," Obama told podcaster Sophia Bush earlier this month on "Work in Progress."
"This couldn't be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?"
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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