Michelle Obama reluctant to campaign for Biden’s re-election, sources reveal why

Former First Lady Michelle Obama is reportedly not planning to publicly campaign for President Joe Biden’s second term. A new report claims that the Biden family’s treatment of her close friend Kathleen Buhle, following her divorce with Hunter Biden, is to partly blame.

Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama attend the 2023 US Open tennis tournament(Reuters)

Although former President Barack Obama has visibly extended his support to Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign trail, his wife has largely maintained her absence at these events. Her nonattendance at grand events, including Biden’s Hollywood-studded fundraiser, is now being credited to her frustration over how the sitting president’s family exiled Buhle, according to a new Axios report, citing two sources familiar with the relationship.

Why is Michelle Obama steering clear of Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign?

In addition to the aforemention reported reason for the former First Lady keeping her distance, her “disdain for partisan politics” is another potential reason why despite being one of the most popular voices from the Democrats table, she’s stayed silent.

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Although former President Obama has appeared by Biden’s side for his re-election effort, the Axios report suggests that the Obama family’s relationship with the Biden clan changed in 2015. This was the same year when then-President Obama discouraged Vice President Biden’s ideas of a presidential run. Their discordant ties ultimately led the way to Hunter Biden and Kathleen Buhle’s messy divorce in 2017.

So far, Obama has gone solo to attend Biden’s 2024 fundraisers, a state dinner for Kenya’s president at the White House in May, and even popped up in videos for the sitting president’s re-election campaign. Meanwhile, his popular spouse has focussed on her national nonpartisan initiative, When We All Vote.

Michelle Obama’s friendship with Kathleen Buhle

Their close ties date back to the Obama adminstration days. On top of that, Hunter Biden who shares three children with his ex-wife, shared a glimpse of their close friendship in his memoir, claiming the former First Lady and Buhle “worked out together at the gym and often had evening cocktails at the White House, at both formal and informal events.” Meanwhile, the former First Lady also mentioned Buhle in her 2022 book: “My friend Kathleen and I keep regular morning dates to walk by the river.”

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As for why Buhle and Hunter split up, the former accused her former partner of cheating and squandering away the family’s savings on drugs and prostitues. Thereafter, she reportedly found unfathomable support in Michelle’s company during her divorce proceedings. The latest report also suggests that Michelle Obama privately told other people she believed Buhle had been wronged by the Bidens.

Officials dispel Michelle Obama’s supposed bad blood with the Biden family

Despite Michelle Obama’s nonappearance at the recent Biden campaign events, her spokesperson, Crystal Carson, asserted that she is backing the president’s re-election: “She is friends with Kathleen and with the Bidens. Two things can be true.”

Similarly, White House spokesperson Andrew Bates also told Axios, “The Biden and Obama families are like family to one other, and whomever made these claims about that relationship isn’t familiar with it.”