Another day, another instance of Michelle Obama saying unflattering things about Barack Obama.
This time, the former first lady sat down with Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast. And while the conversation steered clear of the show’s usual raunchy subject matter, Michelle did have plenty to say about her husband – including her shock that American voters chose “newcomer” Barack over “well-educated” Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primary.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of Ruthless – Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook – to discuss Michelle’s latest eyebrow-raising remarks.
Throwing Shade
Michelle made headlines while promoting her new coffee table book The Look last year when she said the United States was not ready for a female president. “Don’t even look at me about running because you all are lying,” she said. “You’re not ready for a woman. You’re not.”
When Cooper asked the former first lady what she thinks it will take for the country to be ready, Michelle said the controversial remark was a product of her “wry humor” and she actually believes things are headed in the right direction. “It takes time, right, so, but we’re moving,” she said. “We are moving in that direction.”
Even so, Michelle suggested her critics take a look in the mirror. “There was the humor of it like… ‘Come on people. You know there were people who, there are men out there that were not going to vote for a woman,'” she said. “People have had those conversations, right? Let’s just be real about it and let’s put that on the table and talk about, well, what’s that about?”
Instead of being “mad because I made the statement,” Michelle said people should consider that there have recently been “two really qualified female candidates” in Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris who have not been able to make it over the hump.
Before Clinton lost to Donald Trump in the 2016 election, she lost the 2008 primary to a relatively unknown Barack Obama – something Michelle had no problem rehashing. “Let’s look at the fact that we’ve had two really qualified female candidates. One who was first lady, secretary of state, well-educated,” she explained. “You know, my husband beat her, right? People were more comfortable with him as a newcomer.”
She suggested the issue is, at least in part, that women are held to a different standard. “We’ve had qualified women and they just, you know, again, if they’re not perfect and they don’t cross every T and dot every I, there’s a falling shortness that is happening,” Michelle added. “Why can’t we talk about that? Why are we pretending that that didn’t just happen?”
The Hot Take
Duncan admitted Michelle’s take on 2008 was not something he saw coming. “‘Misogyny got my husband elected president’ is a wild take,” he joked.
But when you consider some of Michelle’s past comments about Barack – including the ones she made at other points of the Call Her Daddy appearance about how challenging marriage has been for them – Comfortably Smug said it is not so hard to follow her logic. “Remember she had an episode of her podcast where she was like, ‘Here’s why I’m happy I never had a son. I would never want a Barack Obama,'” he recalled.
“She can get a house in Nantucket and a Netflix deal, and she still says, ‘I’m the victim here.’ It’s incredible,” Smug added. “Does Barack Obama not have any guy friends to be like, ‘You know your wife was on Call Her Daddy saying you go to couple’s therapy and you suck. Any thoughts on this, bro?'”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Ruthless by tuning in to episode 1,239 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 The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.