Michelle Obama Reveals What Made Barack Obama Break Out Into The 'Ugly Cry'
Michelle Obama spilled a little tea about what makes her husband, Barack Obama emotional -- and it’s not really that surprising.
While appearing as a guest at a stop in Brooklyn, N.Y., with Oprah Winfrey on her Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus tour, the former FLOTUS had a powerful conversation that ranged from her time in the White House to marriage. But the most touching part of the interview was Michelle revealing what made the 44th president break down into the ugly -- of course, it was all about their daughters, Sasha, 18, and Malia, 21.
According to PEOPLE, President Obama gets “that ugly loud cry” when talking about their daughters growing up. Mrs. Obama said, “We bawl like babies... When the emotions come is when we are getting in our cars and getting on a plane and leaving our babies. They’re going somewhere, where they now live. That’s when it hits you. It’s like we all start choking up.”
Obama said her husband especially got emotional when they dropped off Sasha at the University of Michigan last year.
She also opened up about advice for her daughters, “What I tell them is what I continue to tell themselves is that they have to walk their own walk. They cannot define themselves by looking at each other or looking at me or their dad."
Sasha and Malia grew up in the public eye, following in the footsteps of other children to live in the White House during their fathers’ tenures including Chelsea Clinton, Amy Carter and Caroline Kennedy and her brother, the late John F. Kennedy Jr. The Obamas took special care, their mother says, to let them establish their own identities.
"They have to take the time to get to know themselves — give themselves a moment to figure out who they want to be in the world, not who they think I want them to be, not what the rest of the world says about them, but to really think about how they want to shape their lives and how they want to move in this world. So, I don’t want them measuring themselves by external influences, and for young girls that is hard to do.”
Meanwhile, although there are still some people begging Obama to enter politics, she has repeatedly said she has no interest. However, Mrs. Obama would like to inspire future leaders. She explained to Oprah, “My hope is that I want to empower young people. I want to empower the next generation of politicians, and community activists, and teachers and doctors and lawyers. I want to be a part of laying out a set of values and principles that we can all be proud of, of this country.”
The full interview will air on Wednesday, Feb. 12 (8 p.m. ET) as part of WW’s Wellness Wednesday Series on Oprah’s Facebook Channel.
