Barack Obama has revealed that his daughters, Malia and Sasha, have no plans to follow in his footsteps because his wife, Michelle, ‘drilled it into them’ early on that they would be ‘crazy to go into politics.’
Malia, now 25, and Sasha, now 23, spent eight years of their childhood living in the White House after their dad served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009.
Since then, many have wondered if they’d grow up to be leaders like their father, but now, the former President has revealed that the two young women have absolutely no interest in entering the cut-throat world of politics.
Barack, 62, sat down with President Joe Biden and Jimmy Kimmel for a chat during a fundraiser event on Saturday evening, and the talk show host asked the father-of-two who he thought would make a better President between his daughters.
But Barack explained that he didn’t have an answer because it’s something he knew would ‘never’ happen.
Barack Obama has revealed that his wife, Michelle, ‘drilled it into’ his daughters, Malia and Sasha, early on that they would be ‘crazy to go into politics’
Malia, now 25, and Sasha, now 23, spent eight years living in the White House after their dad served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009. They’re seen in 2014
‘That is a question I do not need to answer, because Michelle drilled into them so early that you would be crazy to go into politics,’ the former President shared. ‘It’ll never happen.’
Even so, the 62-year-old described Malia and Sasha, who both live in Los Angeles, as ‘powerful young women.’
Malia moved to the West Coast in 2021 to pursue her career as a screenwriter after finishing her studies at Harvard University.
She debuted a short film that she wrote and directed, called The Heart, at the Sundance Film Festival in February.
Instead of using her family name in the credits, she chose to ditch Obama and instead just went by her first and middle name – Malia Ann.
Film fans were left fiercely split online over the move, with some claiming it was brave to strike out on her own and others branding it as an attempt to ‘sneak past nepo baby discourse.’
Afterwards, Whoopi Goldberg leapt to Malia’s defense during an episode of The View.
‘Apparently some folks online are criticizing her for it, claiming that everyone knows she’s an Obama so it’s pointless to hide it,’ Whoopi said.
Barack, 62, sat down with President Joe Biden and Jimmy Kimmel on Saturday evening, and Jimmy asked him who he thought would make a better President between his daughters
But Barack explained that he didn’t have an answer because it’s something he knew would ‘never’ happen
‘That is a question I do not need to answer, because Michelle drilled into them so early that you would be crazy to go into politics,’ the former President (seen with his family in 2009) shared
Since then, many have wondered if they’d grow up to be leaders like their father, but now, the former President has revealed that the two young women have absolutely no interest in entering the cut-throat world of politics. The family is seen in 2015
‘She knows she is an Obama why do you care? Why do you care what she calls herself?
‘If she wanted to call herself Jeanette MacDonald she has the right to.’
The TV personality, whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, continued: ‘If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever the hell she wants to be.
‘Why are people triggered by this kind of stuff? Why are people wasting their time?’
Malia previously interned on Lena Dunham’s HBO series Girls in 2015 and at The Weinstein Company in 2017.
She also worked as a screenwriter on Donald Glover’s Amazon Prime series Swarm.
As for Sasha, she relocated to LA a year later after she transferred to USC from the University of Michigan.
She graduated from the college with a degree in sociology back in May, but it’s unclear what career she is going to pursue.
Michelle, 60, has been outspoken in the past about how she did not want any part of the ‘messy’ political world or the ‘exposure’ that came with it at first.
In his memoir, Barack recalled her telling him after he decided to run for Senate: ‘Don’t expect me to do any campaigning. In fact, you shouldn’t even count on my vote.’
Malia moved to LA 2021 to pursue her career as a screenwriter after finishing her studies at Harvard University, and she debuted a short film at the Sundance Film Festival in February
As for Sasha, she relocated to LA a year later after she transferred to USC from the University of Michigan. She graduated from the college with a degree in sociology back in May
But he said she eventually came around after she realized the enormous impact he could have on young, black children across the nation if he did become America’s first president of color.
He has also been open about how tensions between them grew during their time in the White House – thanks to the immense ‘pressure’ that came with ‘needing to get everything right and be “on” at every moment,’ as well as his focus on his work rather than his family.
Despite all of their problems, Michelle and Barack never gave up on one another, and the ex-President later explained that even during their darkest times, they did not stop showing each other ‘respect.’
‘We were pretty good even when things were tough, we never loss basic respect for the other person,’ he shared.
‘We never thought that person was a bad person. We never said things that would make it seem that you completely disrespect me.
‘It was more, “I love you, Barack, but this is driving me crazy,” or, “I respect you, but…” I think that’s what kept us ’cause we never doubted each other’s intentions.
‘Michelle is a remarkable woman. Even if she drives me crazy sometimes, I never thought that there was anybody who I would rather be with.’
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