Michelle Obama's book tour took an unexpected turn this week.
The former First Lady went off the rails.
And Michelle Obama went on one racist rant that left everyone shaking their heads.
Michelle Obama lectures white people during book interview
Former First Lady Michelle Obama sat down with actress Tracee Ellis Ross to promote her new fashion book The Look at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
What should have been a conversation about style and empowerment quickly devolved into a lecture directed at white Americans.
Obama spent much of the interview complaining about having to keep her hair straight during her eight years in the White House.
Rather than taking responsibility for her own choices, she blamed white people for forcing her to conform to their supposed beauty standards.
"Let me explain something to white people!" Obama declared.¹
She claimed that when black women straighten their hair "to follow your beauty standards, we are trapped by the straightness!"¹
Obama then launched into a list of grievances about how these alleged white beauty standards supposedly prevent black women from living their lives.
"That's why so many of us can't swim!" Obama said. "And we run away from the water — people won't go to the gym, because we're trying to keep our hair straight for y'all. It is exhausting, and it's so expensive and it takes up so much time!"¹
The millionaire former First Lady actually whined about the cost and time involved in her own personal grooming decisions.
Obama tries to justify her divisive comments
Obama referenced The Crown Act during her tirade — legislation that prohibits discrimination based on hair style and texture.
She suggested that white people needed a federal law to "get out of our hair."¹
"Braids are for y'all so we can work harder and focus on the work, so why do we need an act — an act of law to tell white folks to get out of our hair," Obama said. "Don't tell me how to wear my hair, don't wonder about it, don't touch it — just don't!"¹
But here's what makes this entire rant absurd.
Nobody forced Michelle Obama to straighten her hair.
She made that choice herself because she was worried about how it would look politically.
Obama told Ross that she felt obligated to keep her hair straight during her White House years because she believed America wasn't ready for a First Lady with natural hair.
She even wrote in her book that "being First Lady was just another professional experience where I had to conform to a white environment of appropriateness."¹
Translation: She made a calculated political decision and now wants to blame white people for it years later.
Social media erupted after video of Obama's comments went viral, with critics pointing out the obvious hypocrisy of her complaint.
The former First Lady sat in front of cameras with her own straightened hair while lecturing white people about forcing her to straighten it.
Conservative commentator Buck Sexton captured what many were thinking when he wrote, "Starting to feel like maybe Michelle Obama is a bitter malcontent addicted to complaining about her incredibly privileged life."²
The Obamas are worth an estimated $70 million and enjoyed every privilege imaginable during their time in the White House.
Yet Michelle Obama has spent her post-White House years painting herself as a victim of racism and oppression.
She's complained about having to pay for food in the White House, about people not making eye contact with her, and now about her own hair choices.
Americans who work multiple jobs to make ends meet don't have much sympathy for a multimillionaire complaining about the burden of keeping up with her hairstyle.
Obama's rant revealed something troubling about how the Left views race relations in America.
Rather than bringing people together, they're constantly looking for new ways to divide Americans and assign collective guilt based on skin color.
White people didn't tell Michelle Obama how to wear her hair.
She made her own choices about her appearance during her time as First Lady.
But now she's rewriting history to make herself look like a victim and white Americans look like oppressors.
This kind of rhetoric does nothing to improve race relations in America.
It only creates more resentment and division while absolving people of personal responsibility for their own decisions.
¹ Leena Nasir, "Michelle Obama Lashes Out At White People During Interview For New Book," Daily Caller, November 14, 2025.
² Amanda Prestigiacomo, "'White Hot Glare': Michelle Obama Complains About America's Racism, Time In White House," Daily Wire, November 1, 2025.
