If you want to know whether someone’s marriage is going to fail, you can’t predict it by the volume or frequency of fights or by the fact that the couple prefers “alone” to “together” time. Instead, the single greatest indicator that a marriage is over is contempt. And while the media are passing off Michelle Obama’s explanation for her gratitude that she never had a son as a joke (and it may well have been), it is one of the most contemptuous statements I’ve ever seen one spouse say publicly about the other.
There’s been a lot of speculation lately about whether Michelle Obama wants to divorce Barack. Admittedly, most of these rumors come from reading the tea leaves, but Michelle has rather consistently complained about Barack, often in ways that are singularly inappropriate:
HOT MIC: Michelle Obama fueled more divorce buzz in her new podcast, hinting that she leaned on her brother — not her husband — to survive their White House years. pic.twitter.com/VLUgDLOSDR
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 13, 2025
“Where’s Barack? He made her famous and now she’s turning on him…”@walterkirn on Michelle Obama talking about joys of divorce and needing "independence" now.
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) May 12, 2025
Watch below, and download:https://t.co/F96HgI8fyu pic.twitter.com/AZHbjbsGIO
So Michelle Obama started her podcast to bash Barack. When I broke the story of them divorcing people said I was lying…without looking at the evidence. In fact, I believe she is the one who had the article put out about his affair with Jennifer Anniston.
— Melanie King (@realmelanieking) March 15, 2025
It came out a day… pic.twitter.com/MIyAufm6Sd
Michelle has pushed back against divorce rumors, and I believe her. Unless she wants to move on to a new man (and there’s no indication that she does), the marriage probably works the way Bill’s and Hillary’s does: A political power couple who, now that the power game is finally at an end, no longer want each other’s company, but could still badly hurt by the scandal of a divorce. Divorces have a way of getting ugly fast, even if that does not benefit either party.
But just because I doubt that Michelle wants to divorce Obama, that doesn’t mean she likes or respects him. She can still feel contemptuous, even as she enjoys the benefits flowing from their combined ~$70 million net worth, and his status as a two-term president of the United States. And so, the contempt oozes on, with the most recent being Michelle’s gladness that she never had a son:
“You should’ve threw a boy in the mix,” radio host Angie Martinez told Obama in an episode of the former first lady’s “IMO” podcast released Wednesday.
The remark came as Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, along with Martinez, discussed society’s view of masculinity and the challenges of raising boys and young men.
“I’m so glad I didn’t have a boy,” Obama exclaimed.
“Why didn’t you throw in a third?” Martinez said with a chuckle to the mother of two.
“Because he would’ve been a Barack Obama,” the “Becoming” author and former president’s wife quipped to laughs.
You’ll note that The Hill, from which the quotation above comes, assures readers that it was a “quip” with “laughs.” However, as we all know, there are jokes and there are mean jokes. The former never hurt a person close to the joke-teller. The latter are a way to get away with a truly nasty, abusive line, while disclaiming responsibility. We’ve all hurt the mean guy, after throwing out one of those insults, claiming afterward, “What are you getting so upset about? Can’t you take a joke?” But of course, everyone knows it wasn’t a joke.
And when you have someone like Michelle Obama, who never stops complaining about her husband and making endless little digs at his expense, believe me, it’s no joke.
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