Michelle Obama has been working overtime to control the narrative.
She keeps offering new explanations about her troubled marriage.
But Michelle Obama just got exposed making one false claim about her relationship that has Barack seeing red.
Michelle Obama’s damage control tour hits a snag
Former First Lady Michelle Obama launched another public relations campaign to squash rumors that her marriage to Barack Obama is on the rocks.
Michelle appeared on NPR’s "Wild Card" podcast host Rachel Martin to deliver her newest excuse for why she and Barack appear separately at public events.
"The fact that people don’t see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumors of the end of our marriage," Michelle told Martin.
She argued the only reason people suspect marital trouble is their lack of social media presence.
"It’s like, ‘OK, so we don’t Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We’re 60, y’all,’" Michelle said. "You just are not gonna know what we’re doing every minute of the day."
However, Michelle’s reasoning falls short when examined against the evidence.
The former First Lady has been notably absent from major public events where she would normally appear alongside her husband.
Michelle skipped former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in Washington, D.C., leaving Barack to attend alone.
She also refused to attend President Donald Trump’s inauguration, another high-profile event where former presidents and their spouses traditionally appear together.
Michelle Obama tries to spin her public absence
Michelle Obama tried to act like her decision to avoid these important events was personal liberation.
"One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I’m supposed to attend," Obama said.
She claimed this was about "using my ambition to say, ‘Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I’m supposed to do, what the world expects of me.’"
Michelle admitted there was "backlash" to her decisions but said she didn’t regret staying away.
"Whatever the backlash was, I had to sit in it and own it. But I didn’t regret it, you know? It’s my life now, and I can say that, now," she added.
The problem with Michelle’s explanation is that it doesn’t explain why she’s been missing from so many events alongside Barack.
If this was really about her personal choices and not wanting to be told what to do, why wouldn’t she at least show up to support her husband at important moments?
The more logical explanation is that there are serious problems in the Obama marriage that they’re trying to keep out of the public eye.
The Obamas’ calculated public appearances backfire
As speculation about their relationship intensified, the Obamas made some very public appearances together.
They dined at the upscale Lowell Hotel restaurant in Midtown Manhattan last month.
The pair was also photographed on another restaurant outing in Washington, D.C., in April.
These orchestrated public displays only intensified suspicions about their marriage.
When a couple that’s been married for decades suddenly starts making sure they’re photographed together at fancy restaurants, it usually means they’re trying to manage their public image.
Real couples who are happy in their marriages don’t need to prove it to the world with staged photo opportunities.
Michelle also revealed on her podcast "IMO" that she had to "cut" her ambitions as a working mother and First Lady.
"As a working mother, I — you know, I think all of that stuff, it kind of cut my ambitions short a little bit. Because I had to make a set of decisions: ‘OK, my husband’s over here, I’ve got these kids over here. I don’t know if I can afford to be ambitious right now. So I have to take a step back,’" she said.
This sounds like someone who has built up years of resentment about sacrificing her own goals for her husband’s political career.
Michelle Obama’s shifting narrative damages her credibility
Michelle Obama previously tried to dismiss the divorce rumors by claiming she would never keep marriage problems private.
"If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it. My brother would know it. I’d be problem-solving in public. I’m not a martyr," she told "The Diary of a CEO" podcast host Steven Bartlett last month.
But that statement directly contradicts what she’s saying now about keeping their private life out of the public eye.
She can’t have it both ways – either she’s someone who would air her problems publicly or she’s someone who values privacy.
The fact that Michelle keeps changing her story about why she and Barack aren’t seen together suggests she’s scrambling to find an explanation that people will believe.
The American people aren’t stupid – they can see through the Obama’s carefully managed public relations campaign.
When a political power couple that used to be inseparable suddenly needs to stage restaurant dates and give interviews explaining why they’re never together, it’s usually because there’s trouble in paradise.
Michelle Obama’s latest round of excuses only confirms what many people already suspected about the state of her marriage to Barack.
