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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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Former First Lady Michelle Obama posted a throwback photo from her time in the White House after she refused to attend the inauguration of President Donald Trump nearly one month ago.
The Daily Mail published a story titled “Michelle Obama shares throwback to happier times in the White House amid rumors of marriage strife,” where the outlet pushed the rumors about the Obama marriage possibly being on the rocks.
Obama shared a photo on Instagram of herself and artist Amy Sherald as she celebrated Black History Month.
“I first met Amy back when I was First Lady. Barack and I interviewed her to work on our portraits for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in DC. I knew she was the one to work on my portrait,” Obama wrote, calling the artist an “incredible talent with extraordinary character and strength.”
“With her signature style, it’s easy to distinguish her work in many of the galleries that you see today. Her path wasn’t easy – she made tremendous sacrifices, but stayed faithful to her gifts, refusing to give up on what she had to offer to the world. “That’s why she is one of the best artists of her generation,” Obama wrote.
When Amy’s portrait was unveiled in 2018, it caused controversy. Some people criticized the painting, saying it didn’t look like Michelle and compared it to a child’s art project.
Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of former President Barack Obama received better reviews.
After Barack Obama went to former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral by himself, speculation started to grow about Michelle Obama.
Last month, Michelle Obama did not attend President Trump’s inauguration.
Reports have also surfaced that Barack Obama may have been a lot more involved in former President Joe Biden’s presidency than most knew.
A former official with the former Democratic National Committee confirmed what many people previously thought about Joe Biden’s presidency—that it was a “third term” for Obama.
Former DNC fundraiser Lindy Li revealed details about the situation during an appearance on the “Shawn Ryan Show.”
“A lot of people say it was Obama’s third term. There’s rumors of… And these aren’t even… These are friends of mine that are moderate Democrats, say that they thought it was Elizabeth Warren running it. They thought it was Bernie Sanders running it,” the host said. “But I think the general consensus, I think if you asked the majority of the population, they think it was Obama’s third term.”
“It was for sure Obama’s third term. I don’t think that’s even a question,” Li responded.
“That’s why you saw Obama fighting for his dear life. Why was he fighting so hard in the fall? Because he was fighting for his fourth term. He was fighting for his own legacy,” she said as she juxtaposed the relationship between Biden and Obama with that of Lyndon B. Johnson and John F. Kennedy.
“JFK had little respect for Lyndon B. Johnson, but he picked him anyway because he wanted to win the South. He wanted to win Texas. But he had very little respect for LBJ’s intellect. JFK was surrounded by his Harvard Braintrust, and he had immense disdain for LBJ’s Texas Hill country vibe,” the former operative explained.
“That was the same attitude that Obama had towards Biden. Obama thought that Biden would eventually f–k everything up. That’s eventually actually what happened. But also, he didn’t have much faith in Kamala Harris,” Li said of Obama’s attitude towards Biden.
“Before she ascended to the top role, [Obama] was vetting people like [Arizona Democratic Sen.] Mark Kelly and [Kentucky Gov.] Andy Beshear. Most people, most party chieftains, didn’t have Kamala Harris as their number one choice. But in the party of DEI, you can’t skip a black woman. The optics would have been terrible,” she added.
She said some of the people who ran the United States during the Biden presidency included his personal attorneys and senior advisors Steve Ricchetti, Anita Dunn, and Mike Donilon.