Michelle Obama issued a veiled threat to husband Barack amid rumors that their marriage is imploding – and one day after Tucker Carlson claimed she ‘obviously’ hates him.
Michelle set the record straight after speculation over the former first couple’s recent public appearances during a podcast with entrepreneur and investor Steven Bartlett.
‘If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it,’ she said, laughing.
Bartlett mentioned how the media had speculated about pair’s future after she skipped out on Donald Trump‘s inauguration.
The host said her absence left some believing ‘there’s an issue with you and Barack, there’s a divorce coming.’
‘Let me tell you, he would know it,’ Obama said, directing a finger at her brother, Craig Robinson. ‘And everybody would know it.’
Obama, 61, was promoting her own podcast that she hosts with Robinson.
She added that she’s ‘not a martyr’ and joked about how she would address such marital strife publicly.
‘I would be problem-solving in public, like, “Let me tell you what he did,”‘ she said.
Robinson took the joke one step further: ‘If they were having a problem, I’d be doing a podcast with him.’
Michelle acknowledged that marriage is ‘hard’ for her and the former president but added that ‘I wouldn’t trade it,’ calling President Obama, ‘as the young people say… my person.’
‘The beauty of my husband and our partnership is that neither one of us was ever really, ever going to quit at it, because that’s not who we are. And I know that about him. He knows that about me.’
She said that young people give up on marriage too soon, in part because they see a false image of a perfect union between herself and her husband.
‘I talk about these things because I think that people give up too quickly on marriage,’ the ‘Becoming’ author said.
‘Because there is so much friction built into the equation. And if you’re not getting help, talking about it, going to therapy, just understanding how things are changing, and how do you continuously renegotiate your relationship with your partner, I just see people quitting,’ she said.
‘Because they look at me and Barack and go, ‘#couple goals.’ And I’m like, it’s hard,’ Obama added.
Carlson made the blistering comments on The Megyn Kelly Show as he discussed the Obama’s much-talked about 30-year marriage.
Carlson said former First Lady Michelle ‘really dislikes her husband and it’s super obvious.’
‘I’m not just saying that to be catty… I think I’m trying to feel compassion for her but her hostility toward the guy is unbelievable.’
The conservative pundit went on to claim ‘there’s nothing more destabilizing than an unhappy marriage’ and that’s why he believes Michelle’s life exemplifies why it was important to focus on marriage.’
‘It’s not just her,’ he continued. ‘She’s like a freak show and it’s easy to make fun of her and I enjoy it, but I do think it’s a whole class of people who are afflicted with the same kind of restlessness and rage and emptiness and they’re the ones wrecking our society.’
Kelly agreed with Carlson, adding that ‘everything Michelle says about her husband is negative.’
‘I almost never say negative things about Doug,’ Kelly said. ‘He’s not perfect but when I think about him, I don’t immediately go to whatever is negative. I go to what’s positive and what I love about him.’
Michelle has been open about her marriage struggles throughout the years and particularly on her new podcast, IMO (In my Opinion), which she hosts with her brother Robinson.