Barack Obama Jokes Wife Michelle ‘Took Me Back’ Amid Divorce Rumors

Barack and Michelle Obama are turning to laughter to handle the “rumor mill” of unending speculation about their marriage, with the former president joking that “she took me back!” while appearing on his wife’s podcast.

“He made time in his busy schedule to come on,” the former first lady joked while introducing her husband on her podcast “IMO,” which she hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson. “We are honored.” “Wait, you guys like each other?” Robinson quipped after seeing the couple embrace on camera amid relentless speculation that they are heading toward Splitsville.

“Oh yeah, really. The rumor mill,” his sister dryly responded while taking her seat.

“She took me back! It was touch and go for a while,” her husband joked.

“It’s so nice to have you both in the same room together,” Robinson added, prompting his sister to respond: “I know, because when we aren’t, folks think we’re divorced.”

The Obamas, who wed in 1992 and share two adult daughters, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 24, have faced continuous speculation about their love life ― but rumors were amplified earlier this year when the former first lady opted to skip former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. Michelle Obama has previously said that she opted to forgo the events so she could focus on her well-being. She also swiped at those who assume it means she’s having marital issues, saying: “This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?”

Speaking on her latest podcast episode, which focused on raising children, she doubled down on her commitment to her husband, saying: “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man. And we’ve had some really hard times … I have become a better person because of the man that I’m married to.”

Robinson went on to underscore the intensity of public scrutiny and disbelief by sharing that a woman had recently come up to him and asked him directly about the rumors, wondering: “What did he do?”

“And you knew she was going to say, ‘What did he do?’ It wasn’t like, ‘What happened to them?’ It was like, ‘How’d he mess up?’” the former president replied.

“She was like, ‘He did something, didn’t he?’” Robinson said. “I was like, ‘It’s, don’t worry. Everything is fine.’ And let me tell you, she was so happy, you would have thought I’d have given her a Christmas gift.”