Michelle Obama still has one pet peeve with her husband, Barack, that she cannot overlook — even after over 30 years of marriage.
On Wednesday’s episode of her IMO podcast, hosted alongside her older brother Craig Robinson, the siblings were speaking to couple’s therapist Dr. Orna Guralnik when the former first lady said she and Barack struggle to converse while eating dinner since their two daughters, Sasha, 24, and Malia, 27, moved away from home.
“We always have the kids to talk about, but not on a day-to-day basis,” Michelle said. “We’ve noticed how much of our time we’ve spent talking about them, right? So now that we’re empty-nesters, it’s like, ‘Well, what are we going to talk about?’”
Her brother then chimed in to give his opinion that there is always “something to talk about” with a partner, but Guralnik was quick to counter that point.
“There’s a way to be next to another person, even in silence, that can be very alive,” she interjected, going on to ask Michelle what exactly she thought about when sitting across the table from her husband and to express her feelings out loud.
“Because how many times does somebody ask, ‘What are you thinking about?’ And you’re like, ‘Well, let me make up a thing,’” Michelle replied. “Because I don’t actually want to tell you what I was thinking about, which is like, ‘The way you’re chewing makes me want to smack you upside the head.’”
Guralnik then told the former first lady that it might be “interesting” to address her pet peeve to Barack, but she turned the idea down.
“The girls and I are very irritated with the way Barack chews,” Michelle added.
Despite Michelle’s pet peeve with her husband, the two continue to stand by each other as divorce rumors swirl.
In January, the longtime couple turned heads when Barack attended former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral without his wife. Days later, Michelle confirmed she wouldn’t attend Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration either, sparking rumors that she and Barack were splitting up.
However, only a few months later, Barack made a candid revelation about his relationship, explaining how his presidency affected his marriage of 32 years.
“I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” he said during a talk at Hamilton College in April. “I’ve been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”
In July, the couple appeared on Michelle’s podcast together, where her brother began joking about how they appeared to “like each other.”
“That’s the rumor mill,” the former first lady chimed in, while Barack also joked, saying, “She took me back! It was touch and go for a while.”
“Now don’t you start,” Michelle started to tease her husband as her brother broke the tension by telling the couple, “It’s so nice to have you both in the same room.”
“I know, because when we aren’t, folks think we’re divorced,” Michelle replied.
