Michelle Obama is a lot of things: a devoted wife, a loving mother of two, a dedicated philanthropist, a style icon. One thing she's not: "An angry black woman."
During an interview with CBS News Wednesday, the 47-year-old First Lady challenged her depiction in New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor's new book, The Obamas, which describes her as an "unrecognized force" in her husband Barack's presidential agenda.
"I do care deeply about my husband," Michelle admitted to CBS News' Gayle King. "I am one of his biggest allies. I am one of his biggest confidants."
Despite rumors to the contrary, Michelle said she doesn't wield as much political power as the book implies. "That's been an image people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced [his candidacy], that I'm some kind of angry black woman."
"If there's communication that needs to happen, it's between staffs," she said. "I don't have conversations with my husband's staff."
Michelle acknowledged that "there will always be people who don't like me" but hopes "that over time, people get to know me."
"I'm sure we could go day to day and find things people wished they didn't say to each other," The First Lady said. "And that's why I don't read these books. It's a game, in so many ways, that doesn't fit. Who can write about what I feel? What third person can tell me what I feel?"
