Posted For: Rotorblade
Michelle Obama said Friday that she has no plans to run for president, arguing that Americans are “not ready for a woman president” and suggesting that many were not ready for her presence in the White House as a Black First Lady.
Speaking at the Brooklyn Academy of Music while promoting her new book The Look, Obama pointed to Kamala Harris’s 2024 loss to President Trump as evidence of what she described as lingering sexism in the country. “As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready,” she told the audience. “That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not.”
She added, “We’ve got a lot of growing up to do. And there are still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman, and we saw it.”
Obama also expanded on earlier comments from her book tour, saying she was placed under a “particularly white hot glare” during her time as First Lady. She claimed that criticism began even during the 2008 Democratic primaries, saying some within her own party attempted to undermine her as her husband’s campaign advanced.
“These were our people who were going after me,” she said. “This started when we were running against our party… turning me into an angry shrew who diminished her husband, who didn’t love her country, who was unpatriotic. These people are lying. They’re making stuff up because they’re trying to win.”
Obama said that upon arriving at the White House, she felt she needed to “quickly define” herself and did not always feel supported. “I knew coming in as First Lady that I was in charge of my story, my narrative,” she said. “I had to outsmart everyone, and that came down to everything I did, including what I wore.”
Her new book focuses on her experiences with fashion and public perception, asserting that women in politics are often judged more on appearance than leadership.
Although Obama frequently cites harsh criticism from her time in Washington, she was widely celebrated by major media outlets and appeared on the cover of Vogue three times.
As previously noted by Breitbart News, some observers contrast her experience with that of current First Lady Melania Trump, a former supermodel who has been largely overlooked by establishment media and fashion magazines despite her long-standing status in the fashion world.