For a woman who likes to complain so much about being the spotlight, Michelle Obama sure does like to put herself in it.
The first lady-turned-podcast host has a new book coming out early next month about… her fashion sense. But it wouldn’t be the Michelle Obama we have come to know so uncomfortably well these last few months if the latest teaser for the tome didn’t feature her playing the victim card over the same issues she always likes to play the victim card over.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of Ruthless – Josh Holmes, Michael Duncan, John Ashbrook, and Comfortably Smug – to discuss the book and the former first lady’s perpetual victimization.
The Book
Back in June, Obama announced the forthcoming coffee table book called The Look with a lengthy social media post in which she claimed it was time to “reclaim” the narrative surrounding her first lady style because apparently the overwhelming praise she received for her wardrobe was not enough.
“During our family’s time in the White House, the way I looked was constantly being dissected — what I wore, how my hair was styled. For a while now, I’ve been wanting to reclaim more of that story, to share it in my own way,” she wrote. “I’m thankful to be at a stage in life where I feel comfortable expressing myself freely — wearing what I love and doing what feels true to me. And I’m excited to share some of what I’ve learned along the way.”
The “beautifully illustrated” book, which is said to include more than 200 photographs, is being billed as a “stunning journey through Michelle Obama’s style evolution, in her own words for the first time.”
That “style evolution” apparently includes “fashion, hair, and beauty” – but “it’s about more than” that. “It’s about confidence. It’s about identity. It’s about the power of authenticity,” Obama wrote on social. “My hope is that this book sparks conversation and reflection about the ways we see ourselves — and the way our society defines beauty.”
With just a week to go until the on-sale date, Obama was back on social media to promote the project on Monday. This time, she did an ‘unboxing’ video on Instagram where she unleashed a laundry list of leftist buzzwords to convey just how hard she had it as a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for eight years.
“This book is about so much more than beautiful pictures,” she said while holding a copy. “This book talks about the importance of diversity and inclusion and sharing a space. It is about personhood. It’s about how what we wear is an armor that suits us up and gets us ready to face the challenges of the day.”
And she doubled down in the caption. “The Look is a reminder of how far we’ve come and why it’s so important to make sure everyone can see themselves represented in fashion and style,” Obama added.
A Perplexing Project
Megyn said the book is perplexing for a couple of reasons. First, the notoriety it entails. “Just literally 10 days ago she was out there complaining about how famous she is, and [how] she hates going into restaurants, and people are always looking at her,” she recalled. “So what do you do? You start a podcast, a YouTube show, and also debut a new book all about your ‘look’… Because she hates fame and, apparently, money too.”
And then there is the subject matter. “By the way, if you take one look at Michelle Obama on her actual podcast, she has the fashion sense of this pen. I mean, honestly, there’s nothing there,” Megyn added. “Whoever dressed her for that cover did a good job. When she was first lady, she had a couple of moments. But she has a terrible sense of fashion… Most of the time, she looks like she’s wearing burlap.”
Perpetual Victimhood
What the Ruthless fellas took issue with is how the former first lady is framing the project. “This is the thing that offends me so much about what we just watched from Michelle Obama and then also [Karine Jean-Pierre’s] commentary about how she felt unseen as a black woman. It feels like we’re being gaslit,” Duncan said. “As an elder millennial, I remember a time where Oprah was the most popular woman in all of America and Beyoncé was the number one selling artist. I don’t think black women are unseen in America.”
Holmes agreed. “We grew up in an era where our heroes were all black men and women… Michael Jordan, all the athletes, all the singers, all the performers,” he recalled. “And all of a sudden now we’ve entered a stage where they have to, like, code speak about what it is that they are seeking to communicate.”
In Smug’s view, the demographic shifts of the 2024 election illustrate that “Americans, by and large, are sick of this,” and he believes Obama’s victimization is unbecoming – especially of a woman who titled her memoir Becoming.
“I don’t think she gets enough flack for when she had that line [about] ‘every day I wake up in a house built by slaves.’ It’s like, every day you wake up in the White House. That is the pinnacle of the planet. Congratulations,” he noted. “Now you get to have Netflix deals, and book deals, and you get to talk about how my book is about ‘space’ and it’s ‘the look.'”
That led to a very valid inquiry: “How much of this progressive language is like those cardboard books for babies where it says something like, ‘You are in your space.’ ‘You are a little baby’ – these very simple sentences,” he asked.
Megyn joked that it is not unlike the way the media is trying to simplify things for Jean-Pierre during her ill-fated book tour where, much like Obama, she never wastes an opportunity to talk about identity politics. “Of course, she’s got to tout the identity,” she concluded. “It’s just the through line.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Ruthless by tuning in to episode 1,181 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.