(TheConservativeNews.org) – Former First Lady Michelle Obama joined “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert, on Monday night to promote the release of her new book, “The Light We Carry.”
Obama spent the better part of an hour discussing her empty-nest bliss; and mostly discussing her mental health during COVID — “the looping in my head,” as she described it, and her search for “purpose.”
It remains to be seen whether Michelle Obama plans to run for elective office, but her book tour, her appearance on Colbert, and what she said on air is prompting speculation.
Striking a bipartisan note, Obama said most Americans “are reasonable, decent people, regardless of political party — regardless of party.”
“You know, we have to find a way to find empathy again for each other so that we’re not blaming one another, we’re not demonizing one another. But that starts with understanding where did that fear come from?
“And so for me, part of the meditation in that chapter of the book is me trying to figure out how do I handle fear? You know, I talk about one of the most scared times in my life in the book. And look, I grew up in the inner city, things to really be afraid of.
“But the most afraid I was, was when my husband came to me and said he wanted to run for president of the United States. True…That’s an uncertain time. And he said if I wasn’t on board, he’d shut the whole thing down.
“And I just– I sort of point out, with my fear alone, I could have changed the course of history. But I didn’t. I said yes…I said yes, eventually. We’re here. We did it. But in the decision I was making, I was like, why don’t– why would I say no to my husband’s dream? What would cause me not to do it? And it was change. I didn’t want to change anything.
“I didn’t want to leave the home I knew. I didn’t want to leave the friends I knew. I didn’t want change. I didn’t want discomfort. And I had to say to myself, is that a reason not to try something purposeful. Is that really what I say to my kids when they’re older and I talking to my grandchildren, and they start talking about the time their father wanted to be president, but oh, no, little scared grandma here wanted to stay in her same house and rock in her chair…”
Colbert never asked her the obvious question if she was planning on running for office.
Obama recently spoke to BBC Breakfast about the political polarisation in the UK and US.
She was asked about the American electorate’s decision to replace Barack Obama with Trump, she said it “still hurts”, and she sometimes questioned if her husband’s time in office had mattered.
“When I’m in my darkest moment … my most irrational place, I could say, well, maybe (it didn’t matter). Maybe we weren’t good enough.
“But then I look around when there is more clarity … and think more rationally, I think well … today there’s a whole world of young people who are thinking differently about themselves because of the work that we’ve done. And that’s where you can’t allow great to be the enemy of the good.
“You know, did everything get fixed in the eight years that we were there? Absolutely not. That’s not how change happens. But we laid a marker in the sand. We pushed the wheel forward a bit.
“But progress isn’t about a steady climb upward. There are ups and downs and stagnation. That’s the nature of change. And that’s why the work that we’re doing today is about empowering the next generation, the generation that we’re handing the baton over to and making space for them to make their mark on history.”
Obama said it was important to have leadership that “reflects the direction that we want to go in as a people” and that made the general public “feel seen”.
“Leadership matters,” she said. “The voices at the top matter if we can continue to be susceptible to voices that want to lead by fear and division. That’s why government matters, democracy matters. Voting matters. So I think it starts with having leadership that reflects the direction that we want to go in as a people.”
