If you were wondering whether Oprah Winfrey likes Michelle Obama — the answer is yes. She likes her. A lot. On Monday, December 19, the iconic TV host and mogul sat down with the first lady to discuss her time as FLOTUS and her plans for the future in the hourlong CBS special entitled First Lady Michelle Obama Says Farewell to the White House: An Oprah Winfrey Special.
Though Winfrey’s questions ranged topics from the serious to the silly, it was clear from the host’s tone that she was pretty much in awe. Numerous times during their chat, Winfrey interjected asides expressing how much it meant to her that Obama had occupied the post of first lady. “You’re just being here,” the host mused dreamily. “We wanted a little bit of that for ourselves.” Here are the 10 most revealing moments from their chat.
1. Michelle Obama considered not addressing Donald Trump’s comments about women during her speech at Hillary Clinton’s rally.
Back before Donald Trump was the president-elect, Obama spoke at a rally for Hilary Clinton. “We saw this candidate bragging about sexually assaulting women,” Obama said to the crowd. “I can’t stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted.”
After reflecting on those comments, Obama told Winfrey, “To have a candidate for the presidency speaking about women in such terms was not a normal thing, and so my response, in light of what I was seeing from my female staff, what I was hearing from my daughters, their reaction to it, for me, required a different kind of response. You can’t just stand before people and just give a regular political speech.”
Though she considered not addressing Trump’s now-infamous comments made during an interview with Billy Bush, Obama said she simply couldn’t avoid it: “Do I just go out there and act like that didn’t happen? That’s not true. That’s not honest.”
2. Obama went to bed on election night without knowing who won.
Well, she kinda knew. “Pretty much, you kind of saw the tea leaves,” she confessed. “Mentally, I’d already digested it before I actually read it.” She didn’t actually read it, however, until the next morning when she checked her iPhone.
3. Obama gave Melania Trump some advice during their meeting.
“It was very pleasant,” Obama said of her time with the incoming first lady. “It was a wonderful visit.” But that didn’t mean she didn’t have some words of wisdom for Melania Trump. “My offer to Melania was, ‘You really don’t know what you don’t know until you’re here, so the door is open,’ as I’ve told her and as Laura Bush told me, and as other first ladies told me,” Obama revealed. (We’ll have to wait and see if Melania takes her up on that offer.)
4. Obama is busy packing to move out — kind of.
“I do a lot of pointing,” she said with a laugh. (But no, she’s not actually on her knees packing boxes.)
5. She feels badly for young celebrities.
When asked by Winfrey how she stood in her truth throughout her time in the White House, Obama said she relied on “being a grown-up,” explaining that her job would have been much more challenging for her if she were only 20 or 30 years old. “I look at these young celebrities, and I just feel for them,” she added.
6. When her teenage daughters complain about having to deal with a security detail, the mom tells them:
“Girl, you live in the White House!”
7. So … will Michelle Obama ever run for office?
In one word: no. “No, no,” she said. When Winfrey asked again in a slightly different way, Obama added, “Look, that’s one thing I don’t do: I don’t make stuff up. I’m not coy. I’m pretty direct. If I were interested in it, I would say it. I don’t play games. … People don’t understand how hard this is, and it’s not something [where] you just cavalierly ask a family to do it again.” She then added that if there are “conversations” happening about her possibly running for office, she isn’t part of them.
8. Being in the White House made her marriage closer.
“We can’t leave! We’re stuck in here together!” she joked. (This was shortly after Barack Obama dropped in to praise the job she had done and casually ask her if she was wearing a new dress — a question she either didn’t hear or chose to ignore.) She also added, on a more serious note, that when you’re in the White House, your spouse is really the only other person in the world who understands what you’re experiencing.
9. She is down for glamping.
Obama accepted Winfrey’s invitation to go glamping, but on the condition that Winfrey do the cooking. They agreed Yosemite and other national parks would be a good getaway — so look out, Yosemite!
10. Obama’s mom is excited for their White House run to be over.
“Grandma is done!” she declared when Winfrey asked if her mom was going to stick around postpresidency. “She is going back to Chicago. She is like, ‘Bye, Felicia!'” (Yes, Michelle Obama just quoted the movie Friday, and we’re all better off for it.) Barack mentioned that when his family takes off in the chopper on his final day, they will be headed “someplace warm.”
For her part, Obama emphasized that, despite all of their differences with the president-elect, they were going to support Trump. “When he succeeds, we succeed,” she said.
Tell Us: What did you think of Winfrey’s CBS interview with Michelle Obama?
