A second biographer has challenged the 2016 campaign story line that first lady Michelle Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton are besties.
Just months after Kate Andersen Brower revealed in “First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies” how Obama disrespects Clinton, biographer Ed Klein is detailing how Obama mocks Clinton and chafes at Clinton campaign instructions.
Klein, author of the critical new Clinton book from Regnery “Guilty as Sin,” quotes an insider close to Obama BFF and advisor Valerie Jarrett that the first lady is suspicious of Clinton and displays her disrespect behind closed doors.
In a note to Secrets, he said that during a recent meeting in the Oval Office, Clinton tried to convince President Obama and Michelle to coordinate their speeches closely with her campaign bigs.
“Harsh words” were then exchanged, said Klein.
“Michelle actually laughed in Hillary’s face,” Klein’s source said. “Michelle told Hillary that she and Barack had no intention of coordinating their efforts with Hillary’s campaign.”
Klein, a New York Times bestselling author, added that Obama has also mocked Clinton in private.
From Klein:
“She stands up and delivers a Hillary-style speech screaming at the top of her lungs and using Hillary’s hand gestures,” my source said. “Then Michelle starts coughing like Hillary and pretends to toss lozenges in her mouth, one after another, still coughing spasmodically. Then, to top it all off, Michelle pretends to faint a la Hillary.
“When Michelle performs her routine in front of Jarrett,” the source added, “they laugh so hard at Hillary that they’re in tears.”
In her book released in April, one of Brower’s sources said that Clinton’s attacks during the 2008 Democratic primaries are still fresh in the minds of the Obamas. “When Michelle Obama views the Clintons, I don’t want to say she’s looking down her nose at them — but she kind of is.”
The White House has rejected the portraits of the Clinton-Obama relationship, calling the stories “unequivocally false,” and insisting they have a “warm relationship.”
The critical portraits come as Michelle Obama is slated to continue campaigning for Clinton Thursday in Phoenix, Ariz.
Obama’s recent campaign appearances have won media applause and stories about their friendship.
But others suggest that Obama is more focused on keeping Donald Trump from the White House and helping elect a Democrat who will compliment her husband’s legacy.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
