Former first lady Michelle Obama jokingly called husband former President Barack Obama a “negro” in her new podcast’s first episode.
In the inaugural 50-minute installment, the couple, married for 28 years this year, recalled some of their first impressions of one another after meeting at Chicago law firm Sidley Austin LLP in the early 1990s. And why they both ditched corporate life for community-based or nonprofit organization work.
“You could have done anything because of your academic achievement, because you were the No. 1 student at Harvard Law Review, the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, top of your class,” Michelle Obama said to her husband.
“Yeah, see? That’s why you started dating me. You thought I was going to be a meal ticket,” Barack Obama replied.
Michelle Obama denied his taunt, laughing.
“You didn’t know I was going to go out and do some broke …” Barack Obama started before Michelle cut in.
“Like you, you were running away from the money. And I was like, ‘What is wrong with this negro?'” she responded.
It wasn’t the only lighthearted moment in the episode, which focused on the pair’s relationship with their community and country. Michelle Obama also mocked President Trump in a thinly veiled swipe.
“As a former president who reads and knows history … Let’s just take a moment to pause and think about that,” the mother-of-two quipped to her husband.
Obama’s podcast is a collaboration between Spotify and Higher Ground, a production company the husband-and-wife team started in 2018.
