Barack Obama made a shockingly honest admission about the state of his marriage to Michelle Obama.
“I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” Barack, 63, told Hamilton College President Steven Tepper in a conversation Thursday, according to the Daily Beast.
“So I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”
The former president of the United States has previously suggested that his back-to-back terms in office from 2009 to 2017 took a toll on his relationship with the former first lady.
“Let me just say this: It sure helps to be out of the White House and to have a little more time with her,” Barack said in a May 2023 interview, making sure to praise Michelle for being “forgiving” of his shortcomings.
As for the 61-year-old, she revealed in December 2022 that she “couldn’t stand” her husband for a solid decade when their daughters — Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23 — “were little,” noting that she wasn’t “being catty by saying this.”
According to Michelle, “marriage isn’t 50/50 — ever, ever.”
She explained at the time, “There are times I’m 70, he’s 30. There are times he’s 60, [I’m] 40. But guess what? Ten years — we’ve been married 30 — I would take 10 bad years over 30. It’s just how you look at it.”
She shared in an April 2023 sit-down that she talks openly about her partnership “because marriage is hard, and a lot of young people quit on marriage over things that are just a part of the commitment.”
Still, she acknowledged at the time that the compromise associated with marriage “ain’t always fun.”
The Obamas — who wed in October 1992 — have recently been plagued by divorce rumors that seemingly started in January after Barack attended a handful of political events by himself, including former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Trump’s inauguration.
However, an insider insisted at the time that Michelle is simply “checked out” of DC life.
A source who once worked with the couple also told Page Six, “They don’t pretend that they have this Camelot relationship. They’re not trying to present that they’re this magical couple.”
As for how she handles online chatter about her home life, Michelle — who is fairly certain she’s never “once looked at a comment section” — stated last month, “You cannot live through social media. Don’t let that negative energy enter into your space. These are people who don’t know you. A lot of this stuff is made up, and it does not feed you.”
